V n 


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UNtvERSlfV  Ur  ILLINOIS 


PKKSlUKNT’S  OFFICE. 


Reprint  of  an  Address  Delivered 
by  President  John  N.  Tillman 


before  the 


Thirty-Seventh  General  Assembly 
of  the  State  of  Arkansas 


Published  by  the  University  of  Arkansas 
Issued  Quarterly 


i 


Entered  as  second-class  matter  March  85,  1907,  at  the  post  office 
at  Fayetteville,  Ark.,  under  the  Act  of  Congress  of  July  16,  1894 


SUPPLEMENT  TO  BULLETIN 
Volume  2 No.  4 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Reprint  of  an  Address  Delivered  bypiBUBairiEntFFicB. 
John  N.  Tillman  before  the  Thirty-Seventh 
General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Arkansas 


Gentlemen  of  the  General  Assembly : 

The  University  of  Arkansas  owes  its  origin  to  what  is  known 
as  the  Land  Grant  College  Act  of  Congress,  approved  July  2,  1862. 
This  act  was  conceived  by  the  son  of  a blacksmith  then  in  Congress. 
The  same  act  previously  passed  had  been  vetoed  by  President 
Buchanan,  but  when  passed  the  second  time  it  was  signed  by  another 
representative  of  the  industrial  classes,  President  Lincoln.  The 
object  of  this  act  was  to  endow,  support  and  maintain,  with  the 
financial  aid  and  co-operation  of  each  state,  colleges  “Where  the 
leading  object  should  be,  without  excluding  other  scientific  and 
classical  studies,  and  including  military  tactics,  to  teach  such  branches 
of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  in 
order  to  promote  the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  industrial 
classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  professions  of  life.”  This  means  not 
only  to  educate  all  the  people  in  all  the  things  above  mentioned  for  the 
several  pursuits  and  the  several  professions  of  life,  but  it  means  to 
stress  and  to  emphasize  the  teaching  of  such  branches  of  learning 
“as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts  in  order  to  pro- 
mote the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes  in 
the  several  pursuits  and  professions  of  life.”  Undoubtedly  the  word 
several  means  not  one  or  two  particular  professions,  but  means  what 
the  dictionary  says  it  does,  an  indefinite  number  and  more  than  one 
or  two.  In  other  words,  the  land  grant  college  should  dignify,  stress 
and  emphasize  agricultural  and  mechanical  education,  fit  men  for 
the  shop  and  the  farm,  but  at  the  same  time  it  should  be  as  broad 
as  the  able  statesman  who  conceived  it  intended  it  to  be.  It  should 
offer  every  opportunity  and  facility  for  the  washer-woman’s 
daughter  to  improve,  her  knowledge  of  domestic  science  and  house- 
hold economics,  and  thus  enable  her  to  grace  a cottage  as  the 
efficient  helpmeet  of  an  honest  laborer;  it  should  also  offer  her 
an  opportunity  to  acquire  a liberal  education,  if  she  desires  it,  at 
the  least  possible  cost,  and  prepare  her  for  a distinguished  career 
in  the  school  room,  in  literature  or  in  any  of  the  great  vocations  now 
open  to  women.  These  land  grant  colleges  have  been  doing  and 


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are  now  doing  both  these  things.  The  land  grant  college  should  first 
help  the  farmer,  then  the  mechanic,  and  fit  men  well  for  these  great 
occupations.  It  should  still  continue  to  be  what  its  founder  intended 
it  to  be,  a place  where  the  farmer’s  son  or  the  blacksmith’s  son  can 
practically,  without  expense,  fit  himself  to  be  a more  scientific  farmer 
or  blacksmith  than  his  father  was,  but  at  the  same  time  it  should 
offer  training  that  will  fit  the  farmer’s  son  and  the  blacksmith’s  son 
to  become  an  electrical,  a mechanical,  a civil  or  a mining  engineer, 
equipped  with  an  earning  capacity  of  $3,000,00  a year  to  $10,000.00 
a year,  and  it  should  also  give  the  farmer’s  or  the  blacksmith’s  son 
an  opportunity  to  learn,  under  competent  instructors,  Hebrew,  Greek 
or  Latin,  Biology,  Geology  and  Chemistry,  and  fit  themselves  to 
be  ministers,  doctors,  lawyers.  The  farmer  who  desires  his  son  to 
remain  on  the  farm  should  have  opportunity  to  educate  his  son  for 
the  farm,  but  it  is  not  fair  to  him  if  he  desires  his  son  to  be  a doctor, 
a lawyer,  an  editor,  or  a minister,  not  to  grant  him  facilities  to  edu- 
cate his  son  with  as  little  expense  to  him  as  possible  for  any  one 
of  these  learned  professions.  The  doctors,  the  lawyers,  the 
merchants,  the  bankers,  the  engineers,  the  captains  of  industry,  the 
kings  of  finance,  who  are  now  doing  the  business  and  controlling  the 
destiny  of  the  republic,  came  from  the  farm,  and  the  city  still  needs 
and  will  continue  to  need  the  big-brained,  stout-hearted  and  red- 
blooded  farmer  boys  to  practice  the  professions  and  transact  its 
business,  and  it  is  unfair  and  unpatriotic  to  deny  to  the  farmer  or 
to  the  farmer’s  son,  the  blacksmith  or  the  blacksmith’s  son,  the 
washer-woman  or  the  washer-womlan’s  daughter,  the  right  and  oppor- 
tunity to  equip  themselves  for  the  great  careers  that  have  always 
awaited  them  and  always  will  await  them  in  a free  government. 
Justin  S.  Morrill,  the  author  of  this  act,  had  a great  career;  he  was 
a great  merchant  and  a great  statesman.  He  was  a blacksmith’s 
son,  and  many  another  blacksmith’s  son  will  aspire  to  follow  in  his 
footsteps,  and  should  not  be  denied  an  opportunity  to  acquire  an 
education  that  will  enable  him  to  do  so. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Arkansas  accepted  the 
national  law  by  passing  an  act  approved  March  27,  1871,  which 
provided  for  the  location,  organization  and  maintenance  of  the 
University  of  Arkansas,  and  which  allowed  the  several  counties  to 
compete  for  its  location  by  making  public  or  private  donations  of 
bonds,  moneys  or  lands.  Washington  County  and  the  city  of 
Fayetteville  offered  bonds  in  the  sum  of  $100,000.00  and  $30,000.00, 
respectively,  and  the  location  of  the  institution  was  fixed  at  Fayette- 
ville. The  county  and  town  above  mentioned  have  paid  almost  half 


3 


a million  dollars  in  principal  and  interest  in  order  to  secure  the  bless- 
ings and  benefits  of  this  institution.  In  this  connection  we  some- 
times hear  threats  to  remove  all  or  a part  of  the  University  from 
its  present  site;  Such  an  act  would  be  unfortunate,  unfair  and  lack- 
ing in  good  faith.  Washington  County  and  Fayetteville  went  into 
the  open  market,  all  other  counties  having  the  same  right  to  com- 
pete, and  bought  the  location  of  this  institution  for  a fair  considera- 
tion. They  have  not  yet  fully  paid  these  bonds.  The  University 
is  now  ideally  located  in  the  mountains,  1,500  feet  above  the  sea 
level  in  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  healthful  places  in  the  world. 
The  campus  and  surroundings  are  among  the  most  attractive  in  the 
country.  Fayetteville  now  has  electric  lights,  water  works,  sewerage, 
and  it  is  thought  will  soon  have  street  cars.  Here  it  has  lived  for 
thirty-seven  years,  through  its  infancy  into  its  maturity,  through 
evil  and  through  good  report,  and  here  it  should  continue  to  live, 
in  my  judgment,  forever.  Sentiment  counts  for  something.  This 
is  a place  of  hallowed  memories  for  all  of  the  many  thousands  of 
students  who  attended  the  University.  Who  would  think  of  moving 
the  University  of  Virginia  from  Charlottesville,  where  sleeps  its 
founder,  the  Sage  of  Monticello?  Who  would  suggest  the  removal 
of  Yale  from  New  Haven,  Harvard  from  Cambridge,  Bowdoin  from 
Brunswick,  Vassar  from  Poughkeepsie,  Princeton  from  Princeton, 
Columbia  from  New  York  City?  Nor  should  any  portion  of  the 
University  be  removed  from  its  present  location.  Some  of  the 
states  have  made  serious  mistakes  by  separating  the  agricultural 
college  and  experiment  station  from  the  other  university  depart- 
ments and  have  separate  plants.  This  doubles  the  expense.  It 
means  two  sets  of  executives,  duplicate  equipment,  duplicate  labora- 
tories, libraries  and  vastly  increased  expense  in  every  way.  It  means 
weakened  facilities.  Concentration  rather  than  division  is  the  better 
policy,  thereby  strengthening  the  entire  institution  and  greatly  lessen- 
ing cost  of  maintenance.  The  states  that  have  built  up  strong 
institutions  have  all  their  departments  at  one  place.  The  following 
great  institutions  are  located  at  one  place  and  under  one  manage- 
ment: New  York,  Cornell  University  at  Ithaca,  Illinois,  Minnesota, 
Missouri,  Nebraska,  Wisconsin,  California,  Indiana,  Louisiana, 
Maine,  Nevada,  Ohio,  Tennessee,  Vermont,  West  Virginia  and 
Wyoming.  Arkansas  can  well  afford  to  follow  the  example  of 
these  great  states  and  their  splendid  institutions. 

When  the  people  of  Arkansas  were  still  surrounded  by  the 
ruins  of  Civil  War,  when  we  were  poor  and  staggering  under  a 
load  of  debt,  our  University  was  founded  by  the  combined  efforts 


4 


of  a generous  government  and  a generous  state.  At  its  birth  it  was 
not  an  o\  erstrong  infant,  and  was  housed  in  a modest  frame  struc- 
ture, a portion  of  which  is  now  used  as  a laundry  for  the  boys’ 
dormitories.  In  this  building  on  the  226.  of  January,  1872,  under 
the  presidency  of  N.  P.  Gates,  who  for  a time  was  both  president 
and  “faculty,”  and  with  a “student  body”  of  seven  “preps,”  this 
ambitious  fledgling  began  its  career.  Beset  with  difficulties  and 
assailed  by  foes,  slowly  but  with  resolute  persistence  she  went  for- 
ward to  better  things.  In  a short  time  workmen  began  to  lay  deep 
the  foundations  of  the  lordly  structure  which  is  now  her  home,  and 
after  months  of  labor  “university  hall”  reared  her  proud  front  to 
the  sky.  Here  she  has  stood  since,  in  the  shadow  of  her  oaks, 
proudly  facing  the  morning.  More  than  18,000  students  have 
entered  her  doors,  and  500  men  and  women  have  been  awarded 
degrees  by  her  faculties.  The  University  is  no  longer  an  experi- 
ment. She  has  discarded,  long  since,  the  garments  of  childhood, 
and  now  wears  the  stately  robes  of  maturity.  She  has  grown  from 
one  building  to  fourteen,  and  from  seven  students  to  1,200.  She 
stands  before  you  proud  of  her  past,  hopeful  of  her  future.  Virile, 
earnest,  courageous,  she  has  fought  a good  fight.  She  has  made 
mistakes,  she  has  been  disciplined  by  adversity,  but  she  is  stronger 
and  more  hopeful  and  more  mature  today  than  ever  before. 

“She  is  no  sapling,  chance  sown  by  the  fountain, 

Blooming  at  Beltane  in  winter  to  fade. 

When  the  whirlwind  has  swept  every  leaf  from  the  mountain, 
The  more  shall  Clan  Alpine  exult  in  her  shade. 

Moored  in  the  rifted  rock, 

Proof  to  the  tempest’s  shock 
The  firmer  she  roots  down. 

The  ruder  it  blows.” 

A state  is  just  as- strong  as  her  schools,  no  stronger.  Her 
position  among  her  sister  states  is  determined  by  her  attitude  toward 
her  institutions  of  learning ; if  they  flourish  she  advances ; if  they 
decay  for  the  lack  of  support,  the  state  will  decay  for  the  lack  of 
manhood  and  womanhood. 

I believe  the  Legislature  should  liberally  support  the  State 
University.  The  tendency  of  the  time  is  toward  state-supported 
higher  education ; the  training  of  young  people  for  the  duties  of 
this  life  is  no  longer  left  to  the  charity  of  the  church  nor  to  privately 
endowed  institutions.  We  no  longer  ask  a student  to  pay  tuition; 
we  have  come  to  recognize  the  fact  that  in  the  last  analysis  the  child 


5 


belongs  to  the  state,  and  it  is  to  the  interest  of  the  state  to  have  him 
educated.  We  have  entered  upon  the  policy  of  universal  education, 
and  our  greatest  items  of  expense  is  for  public  education. 

I am,  perhaps,  a partial  judge,  but  I believe  that  our  State  Uni- 
versity is  a great  and  a strong  institution.  I am,  perhaps,  “to  her 
faults  a little  blind,  and  to  her  virtues  ever  kind,”  but  I believe  in 
her,  believe  that  she  has  been  a great  blessing  to  the  state  during  her 
thirty-seven  years  of  useful  life,  and  believe  that  she  will  soon  grow 
to  be  a still  greater  blessing. 

The  University  is  at  the  head  of  the  system  of  public  education 
in  the  state,  and  it  should  be  the  instrument  of  the  state  in  building 
up  the  state,  and  should  do  all  the  educational  work  for  which  it  is 
the  best  adapted  organization.  The  very  name  “university”  carries 
with  it  the  idea  of  education  in  every  line  of  work — agriculture, 
horticulture,  animal  husbandry,  dairying,  military  tactics,  pedagogy, 
normal  instruction,  engineering,  the  sciences  and  the  classics. 

The  duty  of  the  agricultural  college  is  to  make  a specialty  of 
aid  to  the  farmers  of  the  state,  try  to  improve  conditions  so  that 
two  barrels  of  fruit,  two  bushels  of  grain  and  two  bales  of  cotton 
shall  grow  where  one  grows  now ; to  improve  the  home  life  of  the 
farmer,  build  better  roads,  extend  telephone  lines,  to  encourage  the 
rural  population  in  all  the  things  that  go  to  uplift  them  and  to 
make  them  happier  and  more  prosperous,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
break  down  the  prejudice  of  the  classes  against  the  masses  and  the 
prejudice  of  the  masses  against  the  classes.  What  a blessing  would 
visit  us  if  we  could  stand  for  only  one  good  day  from  under  the 
blighting  shadow  of  false  pretense  and  self-interest.  The  land  grant 
college  must  help  the  farmer  in  every  way  by  encouraging  farmers’ 
organizations,  farmers’  clubs,  country  reading  clubs,  country  de- 
bating clubs,  organizations  formed  to  consider  the  stamping  out  of 
disease,  to  discuss  drainage,  to  improve  the  corn  crop  and  the  cotton 
crop,  to  improve  fruit  culture,  to  help  farmers’  wives  and  farmers’ 
daughters  in  domestic,  household  and  social  affairs.  While  the  city 
must  not  be  neglected  by  the  land  grant  college,  we  must  remember 
^ that  the  country  is  God-made,  the  city  is  man-made,  and  that  if  there 

was  no  country  there  would  be  no  city,  and  even  if  we  had  no  city 
the  great  earth  from  which  our  living  comes  would  still  be  here. 

, Interest  in  agricultural  education  is  general  throughout  the 

country.  Fortunately  for  the  farmers,  it  is  now  much  in  the  public 
mind.  This  new  movement  is  illustrated  in  the  attendance  of 
students  of  agriculture  in  land  grant  colleges  of  the  country.  In 
the  years  1894-95  there  were  2,712  such  students  in  attendance  in  the 


6 


United  States.  In  1905  the  number  exceeded  7,000,  a gain  in  ten 
years  of  more  than  350  per  cent.  The  gain  in  the  next  ten  years 
will  be  much  larger.  In  the  last  three  years  in  the  University  of 
Arkansas  the  increase  in  this  class  of  students  has  been  great.  For 
many  years  our  college  tolerated  instruction  in  agriculture,  now  it 
emphazies  and  stresses  it  and  will  continue  to  do  so.  Our  agri- 
cultural college  and  experiment  station  are  conducted  in  the  interest 
of  the  farmers  of  the  state.  There  the  staff  are  not  only  studying 
live  bacteria,  live  insects,  but  they  are  studying  live  cows  and  hogs 
and  horses  as  well.  They  not  only  study  the  flea  and  the  fungus, 
but  the  animal  and  the  vine  also.  They  go  to  the  open  country  and 
visit  the  farmer’s  farms  and  advise  with  him  and  make  his  troubles 
their  troubles  and  his  cause  their  cause. 

In  company  with  Governor  Donaghey,  Superintendent  Cook  and 
Dr.  Buttrick  of  the  General  Board  of  Education,  I had  the  privilege 
recently  to  visit  the  greatest  land  grant  university  in  America  at 
Madison,  Wis.  There  they  do  not  neglect  the  classics  and  the 
sciences  nor  engineering,  but  they  properly  emphasize  agricultural 
education.  They  have  at  Menomine,  Wis.,  and  at  St.  Paul,  Minn., 
ideal  schools  for  farmers’  sons  and  daughters.  Ninety-five  per 
cent  of  the  students  at  these  schools  come  from  the  farm  and  go 
back  to  the  farm.  These  schools  in  no  way  conflict  with  the  State 
University,  they  are  secondary  schools  and  make  a specialty  of  train- 
ing young  men  and  women  exclusively  for  the  farm.  We  should 
have  as  many  as  four  such  schools  in  Arkansas,  and  if  properly 
managed  they  are  sure  to  be  successful.  I very  heartily  favof  the 
establishment  in  different  parts  of  the  state  these  agricultural  schools 
modeled  after  the  ones  above  mentioned. 

The  policy  of  Arkansas  should  be,  I respectfully  submit,  along 
the  lines  above  set  forth ; elementary  agriculture  should  be  taught 
in  the  public  schools,  four  of  these  exclusively  agricultural  schools 
should  be  established  at  different  parts  of  the  state,  the  sub-stations 
of  the  State  University  should  be  continued,  and  the  University  with 
its  present  agricultural  college  and  experiment  station  should  be 
liberally  aided  and  encouraged  to  extend  and  greatly  improve  the 
work  it  is  now  doing,  and  the  work  that  it  should  do  in  the  interest 
of  all  the  people,  and  more  particularly  in  the  interest  of  the  great 
industrial  classes,  mainly  for  whose  benefit  it  was  established. 

The  popular  idol  of  the  future  will  not  be  a naval  hero,  nor  a 
military  hero,  but  he  will  be  a man  who  has  spent  his  life  in  pro- 
moting peace,  good  will  and  fellowship  between  town  and  country ; 
who  has  promoted  civic  righteousness  and  civic  cleanliness  in  the 


7 


town,  and  who  has  brought  the  country  to  a higher  economic,  in- 
tellectual and  social  plane ; who  has  taught  the  city  folk  to  respect 
the  country  folk,  and  who  has  caused  the  country  folk  to  respect 
the  city  folk.  Such  a man  should  have  a monument  in  some  grace- 
ful circle  at  Washington,  and  one  on  the  state  house  grounds  of 
every  capitol  in  every  state  in  the  Union.  The  real  idol  of  the 
people  will  not  be  the  statesman  who  has  won  the  purple  of  office 
by  arraying  mass  against  class  and  class  against  mass,  but  will  be 
the  man  who  has  brought  the  country  and  the  town  to  know  and 
to  love  and  to  respect  each  other.  Such  a man  should  have  a tomb 
loftier  than  the  Pyramids,  more  magnificent  than  the  imperial  burial 
place  of  the  Caesars,  richer  than  the  mausoleum  of  the  eagle-souled 
Napoleon.  His  statue  should  not  be  that  of  a “man  on  horseback/’ 
but  should  stand  upon  the  earth  that  he  has  dignified  and  blessed, 
and  facing  the  sunrise  of  the  greatest  morning  of  the  greatest  day 
the  world  has  ever  seen. 

You  will  pardon  me  if  I go  somewhat  into  detail  on  the  subject 
of  the  work  of  our  own  college  of  agriculture  and  experiment 
station. 

The  man  who  discovers  natural  and  physical  laws  that  will 
unlock  nature’s  storehouse  of  plant  food,  and  increase  the  yield  of 
our  farms,  is  a benefactor  to  every  citizen  of  the  state.  The  most 
important  question  before  the  people  of  Arkansas  today,  is  how  to 
produce  more  than  we  are  now  getting  from  an  acre  of  land. 

For  many  years  the  people  of  Arkansas  have  been  indifferent  to 
their  great  opportunities  for  agricultural  wealth.  Our  virgin  soils 
have  produced  fair  crops  with  little  assistance,  our  extensive  forests 
have  yielded  millions  of  dollars  to  the  lumber  market ; coal  and  other 
minerals  have  been  taken  with  little  thought  of  their  value.  During 
this  period  of  plenty,  little  heed  has  been  'given  to  our  natural 
resources,  and  to  the  increased  demand  for  agricultural  products. 
We  are  at  last  alive  to  the  inevitable  fact  that  our  virgin  soils  are 
rapidly  deteriorating,  and  the  products  of  our  farms  are  not  com- 
mensurate with  the  demand  for  food  products.  Thus,  the  farmer 
who  has  robbed  his  soil  by  his  crude  methods  of  agriculture  must 
compete  with  the  man  who  by  scientific  methods  produces  twice  as 
much  as  his  unfortunate  neighbor. 

Arkansas  is  an  agricultural  state.  While  we  have  other  im- 
portant industries,  our  chief  source  of  wealth  is  the  farm.  When 
our  farms  are  profitable,  all  other  people  are  prosperous — banks 
lend  money,  capitalists  invest  their  means,  commercial  life  is  every- 
where active.  When  crops  fail,  business  is  stagnate. 


8 


Our  people  have  not  fully  realized  the  opportunity  for  agri- 
cultural wealth.  Lack  of  interest  in  agricultural  education  has  been 
responsible  for  poor  methods  on  the  farm,  and  hence  moderate  com- 
pensation for  agricultural  products.  The  national  government  has 
spent  four  dollars  for  agricultural  education  in  the  state  for  every 
dollar  furnished  by  the  state.  We  have  not  participated  in  the  great 
advance  in  our  education,  now  in  progress  all  over  the  United 
States.  The  great  wave  of  progress  which  began  in  1903  and  1904 
has  resulted  in  great  good  to  agriculture  in  other  states ; hence, 
money  and  men  have  been  provided  to  carry  on  this  work.  Observe 
what  other  states  have  appropriated  to  advance  the  interest  of  agri- 
culture. 

South  Carolina  has  a $50,000.00  agricultural  building;  Wis- 
consin gave  $150,000.00  for  agricultural  buildings;  Nebraska, 
$60,000.00  for  its  college  of  agriculture ; Virginia,  $165,000.00  for 
buildings  and  equipment.  Iowa  College  of  Agriculture,  in  addition 
to  the  maintenance  fund  of  $50,000.00,  appropriates  $95,000.00  to 
complete  central  building,  $45,000.00  for  dairy  building,  $10,000.00 
for  equipment,  $22,000.00  for  new  dairy  farm,  $7,000.00  for  equip- 
ment, $54,000.00  for  heating  plant,  $15,000.00  for  experiment  sta- 
tion. The  College  of  Agriculture,  Cornell  University,  was  organ- 
ized with  state  aid,  appropriating  $25,000.00  for  buildings  and  equip- 
ment. Illinois  College  of  Agriculture  appropriated  $25,000.00  for 
building  for  beef  cattle,  $12,500.00  for  horticultural  building  and 
$12,500.00  for  agronomy.  Minnesota,  $300^000.00  for  buildings, 
including  $218,000.00  for  main  agricultural  building.  University 
of  Vermont,  $60,000.00  for  agricultural  building.  Missouri  gave 
for  agricultural  and  horticultural  buildings  $429,000.00 ; for  uni- 
versity biennial  period,  $689,000.00 ; the  supplemental  appropriation 
for  agricultural  department  including  horticultural  building, 
$250,000:00.  Indiana  gave  for  agricultural  buildings  $60,000.00. 

The  following  appropriations  were  made  for  agriculture  in 
1905: 

South  Carolina,  supplemental  to  agricultural  and  horticultural 
building,  $45,000.00;  Minnesota,  horticultural  building,  $40,000.00; 
Iowa,  horticultural  building,  $40,000.00;  Ohio,  $25,000.00;  Connecti- 
cut Agricultural  College,  $40,000.00,  and  $60,000.00  for  dormitory ; 
California  College  of  Agriculture,  $150,000.00;  Kansas  Agricultural 
College,  horticultural  building,  green  house  and  equipment, 
$50,000.00;  heating  and  power  plant,  $16,000.00;  granary,  $4,000.00; 
current  expenses,  $90,000.00  in  1906,  $100,000.00  in  1907.  Penn- 
sylvania agricultural  building,  $150,000.00,  $21,500.00  for  extension 


9 


of  lighting  and  heating  plant,  $30,000.00  to  main  courses  in  agri- 
culture, $2,500.00  for  tool  and  poultry  house. 

Arkansas  is  one  of  the  best  agricultural  states  in  the  Union, 
and  yet  we  have  expended  but  $10,000.00  for  an  agricultural  build- 
ing, $5,000.00  for  dairy,  and  but  $35,000.00  for  maintenance  of  the 
college  of  agriculture,  the  experiment  station,  the  six  branch  stations 
and  all  other  lines  of  work  now  in  progress.  A large  portion  of 
the  fund  available  for  agriculture  from  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment must  be  used  for  research  work,  and  can  not  be  used  for  teach- 
ing. These  funds  known  as  the  Hatch  and  Adams  funds  can  not 
be  used  for  teaching,  buildings,  equipment  nor  for  any  other  pur- 
poses except  research  work.  Hence  the  station,  for  lack  of  sup- 
port, could  not  extend  further  the  work  of  farmers’  institutes, 
co-operative  and  demonstration  work  so  much  needed  in  various 
parts  of  the  state.  Notwithstanding  the  lack  of  support,  a com- 
parison of  the  results  of  the  college  of  agriculture  and  experiment 
station  will  show  that  they  are  efficient  and  helpful  to  the  agricultural 
interests  of  the  state.  Besides  the  regular  work  of  teaching,  the 
men  in  the  college  of  agriculture  write  bulletins  from  time  to  time 
on  the  various  lines  of  agriculture.  These  publications  are  the  re- 
sult of  experimentation,  and  extend  over  almost  every  phase  of 
scientific  agriculture.  In  addition  to  this  work  the  station  staff  are 
answering  thousands  of  personal  inquiries  for  information  on  sub- 
jects relating  to  agriculture,  horticulture,  dairying,  entomology, 
chemistry  and  animal  husbandry. 

The  enrollment  in  the  college  of  agriculture  has  greatly  increased 
during  the  term  of  1908-09.  There  are  about  250  students  taking 
work  in  the  various  branches  of  agriculture,  fifty-five  of  whom  are 
teachers,  making  preparation  to  teach  agriculture  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  state. 

After  several  unsuccessful  attempts  to  grow  rice  in  Lonoke 
County,  the  experiment  station  in  co-operation  with  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture  came  to  the  aid  of  the  farmers 
in  that  locality,  with  only  a meager  sum  of  money  available,  and 
began  to  experiment  with  rice.  These  experiments  were  successful 
from  the  beginning.  It  is  now  known  in  Arkansas  that  the  low, 
flat,  badly-drained  lands  in  the  state  produce  more  rice  to  the  acre 
than  any  other  region  in  the  United  States.  As  a result  of  this 
work,  thousands  of  dollars  are  made  by  the  farmers  on  soils  that 
have  not  heretofore  been  profitable.  The  experiment  station  sent  its 
field  agent  among  the  rice  growers  to  give  them  personal  instruc- 
tion as  to  how  to  prepare  the  soil,  build  their  levees,  irrigate  the 


10 


field,  harvest  and  market  the  crop.  Three  bulletins  containing 
valuable  information  on  rice  growing  have  been  published  and  dis- 
tributed among  the  rice  growers.  This  has  opened  a new  field  of 
agriculture  in  the  state,  and  caused  rice  lands  to  increase  in  value 
nearly  300  per  cent,  during  the  last  three  years.  The  farmers  them- 
selves have  now  become  rice  growers,  and  are  reaping  rich  rewards 
from  their  farms.  But  the  station  is  still  working  on  rice  problems. 
The  best  fertilizers  needed  for  rice,  the  best  way  to  eradicate  noxious 
weeds,  the  best  system  of  crop  rotation  for  rice  soils,  the  method  of 
selection  and  breeding  an  earlier  and  better  quality  of  rice,  are  some 
of  the  experiments  now  in  progress. 

The  sub-station  at  Lonoke,  while  funds  for  taking  care  of  the 
experiments  were  not  furnished  by  the  state,  extended  the  rice 
acreage  and  made  the  station  self-sustaining.  The  work  of  the  sub- 
stations is  now  appreciated,  and  means  appropriated  for  six  stations, 
one  in  each  congressional  district,  except  the  sixth,  in  which  the 
experiment  station  at  Fayetteville  is  located.  Many  problems  of 
local  agriculture  are  being  solved  at  these  branch  stations,  and  much 
valuable  information  disseminated. 

The  dairy  establishments,  as  a part  of  the  experiment  station, 
is  teaching  the  farmers  valuable  lessons  on  the  production  of  pure 
milk.  This  information,  if  duly  appreciated  and  carefully  followed, 
will  prove  that  the  dairy  industry  can  be  made  to  add  millions  of 
dollars  to  Arkansas. 

The  chemist  is  rendering  valuable  assistance  to  the  farmers  of 
the  state  in  analyzing  soils  and  making  recommendations  for  fer- 
tilizers needed. 

In  January  of  each  year,  a short  winter  course  is  given  in 
agriculture,  and  farmers  and  their  sons  and  daughters  are  invited 
to  attend  free  lectures  and  demonstrations  in  Agronomy,  Horti- 
culture, Animal  Husbandry,  Dairying,  Veterinary  Science  and 
Chemistry.  These  lectures  and  demonstrations  are  of  incalculable 
value  to  all  who  attend,  and  are  being  fully  appreciated,  as  the  in- 
creased attendance  clearly  shows. 

By  the  efforts  of  the  experiment  station,  a successful  campaign 
has  been  waged  against  cattle  tick  and  Texas  fever,  so  disastrous 
to  cattle  in  this  state. 

Every  cultivator  of  the  soil  has  for  his  chief  aim  its  permanent 
improvement.  It  costs  no  more  to  grow  a crop  of  cotton  or  corn 
on  a rich  soil  than  on  soil  poor  in  plant  food.  If  one  acre  produces 
twenty  bushels  of  corn,  at  a cost  of  ten  bushels,  there  is  a profit  of 


11 


ten  bushels.  If  another  acre  produces  fifty  bushels,  at  a cost  of  ten 
bushels,  a profit  of  forty  bushels  is  secured,  or  400  per  cent.  The 
experiment  station  has  shown  that  soil  fertility  may  be  not  only 
maintained,  but  much  increased  in  fertility  by  the  use  of  legumes, 
* thus  saving  the  expense  of  commercial  fertilizers.  In  one  experi- 

ment a plot  of  land  in  cowpeas  produced  $18.00  worth  of  hay,  and 
was  followed  by  a crop  of  oats  valued  at  $18.50,  making  the  returns 
from  an  acre  $36.50.  Another  plot  in  oats,  not  followed  by  cow- 
peas,  yields  only  $11.58.  Thus  in  the  same  time  one  acre  produced 
300  per  cent  more  than  another  without  cowpeas.  In  another  case, 
cowpeas  grown  before  a crop  of  wheat  produced  $19.33  worth  of 
hay,  and  the  pea  stubble,  plowed  under,  increased  the  yield  of  wheat 
61  per  cent.  The  wheat  was  valued  at  $13.20,  making  a total  of 
$32.53,  against  $8.08  worth  of  wheat  grown  on  an  adjacent  plot  not 
preceded  by  cowpeas.  This  represents  400  per  cent  increase  in  the 
value  of  the  products  taken  from  the  soil,  to  ignore  the  increased 
fertility  of  the  soil  for  future  crops.  It  was  found  that  cowpeas 
planted  with  corn  two  years  increased  the  value  of  the  crop  143  per 
cent.  Here  we  have  information  that  would  save  the  farmers  of 
Arkansas  thousands  of  dollars  spent  in  commercial  fertilizers,  and 
increase  the  value  of  our  farm  products  millions  of  dollars. 

The  experiment  station  and  college  of  agriculture  belongs  to 
all  the  people  of  the  state,  and  has  served  and  is  serving  more 
people  than  any  other  similar  institution  with  the  same  support. 
Every  dollar  appropriated  to  these  institutions  will  be  bread  cast 
upon  the  waters,  which  will  be  gathered  up  with  increased  value. 

The  experiment  station  at  the  University  during  the  years 
1907-08,  issued  eleven  bulletins.  These  cover  such  subjects  as 
veterinary  science,  pathology,  animal  husbandry,  entomology,  hor- 
ticulture and  grain  crops.  The  cotton  farmers  have  also  received  a 
fair  share  of  attention  during  the  last  two  years. 

The  station  is  rendering  a great  service  in  its  inspection  work. 
Quarantine  lines  are  being  gradually  removed,  and  the  various  laws 
touching  this  subject  enforced,  saving  the  farmers  thousands  of 
dollars. 

The  station,  last  year,  held  sixty-five  farmers’  institute  meet- 
ings in  different  parts  of  the  state.  The  total  attendance  was  about 
12,000.  County  farmers’  institute  associations  are  being  organized 
now,  and  these  articulate  with  the  station. 

Comprehensive  work  touching  all  lines  of  general  farming  has 
been  conducted  at  each  sub-station.  The  chief  aim  has  been  to  in- 


12 


crease  production  in  all  the  staple  crops.  The  work  is  command- 
ing attention,  and  is  teaching  better  agriculture. 

The  teaching  departments  have  been  increased  from  two  to 
eight.  Three  courses  are  offered : one  four-year  course,  one  two- 
year  course,  and  one  short  course  for  farmers.  The  demand  for 
instruction  is  increasing,  and  the  capacity  of  some  of  the  depart- 
ments is  thoroughly  tested. 

Co-operative  work  between  the  station  and  the  department  at 
Washington  is  becoming  more  thoroughly  organized.  This  means 
that  gradually  the  national  government  will  increase  its  support  to 
Arkansas  agriculture'. 

Complaint  is  sometimes  made  that  the  college  of  agriculture 
and  experiment  station  have  done  but  little  for  the  farmers  of  the 
state.  In  times  past  they  have  not  done  what  they  should  have  done, 
but  if  you  investigate  with  an  eye  single  to  finding  out  the  facts,  you 
will  find  that  within  the  last  few  years  there  has  been  greatly  in- 
creased activity  in  the  right  direction.  Indeed,  the  University  has 
done  much  for  the  farmers,  and  has  been  what  it  was  intended  to  be, 
a place  where  the  industrial  classes  could  receive  a liberal  and 
practical  education  for  the  duties  of  life.  It  has  been  the  school 
of  the  masses,  a poor  man’s  school,  a farmer’s  school. 

The  following  is  a partial  list  showing  some  of  the  alumni  of 
the  college  of  agriculture  who  have  achieved  prominence,  and  what 
they  are  now  doing : 

A.  T.  Erwin,  associate  professor  of  horticulture,  Iowa  State 
College. 

Frank  Horsfall,  horticulturist,  Missouri  Fruit  Station,  Moun- 
tain Grove,  Mo. 

D.  C.  Mooring,  associate  professor  of  horticulture,  Miss.  A.  & 
M.  Col. 

C.  D.  Foreman,  successful  planter,  Chelsea,  Okla. 

J.  D.  Davis,  large  planter,  Chelsea,  Okla. 

J.  F.  Moore,  formerly  chemist,  Arkansas  Agricultural  Station. 

J.  M.  Wilson,  teacher  of  agriculture,  Duncan,  Okla. 

W.  W.  Nelson,  teacher  of  agriculture,  Muskogee,  Okla. 

C.  W.  Jones,  chemist,  Michigan. 

H.  E.  Morrow,  associate  professor  of  chemistry,  U.  of  A. 

F.  I.  Gibson,  chemist,  Southern  Oil  Co.,  Savannah,  Ga. 

J.  H.  Johnson,  florist,  J.  W.  Vestals  & Sons,  Little  Rock,  Ark. 

Rufus  J.  Nelson,  professor  of  agriculture,  U.  of  A. 


13 


These  sons  of  farmers  have  distinguished  themselves  as  elec- 
trical engineers : 

A.  B.  Crozier,  an  electrical  engineer,  and  the  son  of  a farmer, 
is  now  consulting  engineer  at  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

E.  H.  Dickson,  the  son  of  a farmer  in  Desha  County,  has 
attained  prominence  as  an  electrician. 

J.  L.  Longino  came  from  a poor  family  in  Columbia  County ; 
has  earned  prominence  as  an  electrical  engineer. 

L.  L.  Newman,  of  Columbia  County,  is  superintendent  of  elec- 
trical construction  for  Pennsylvania  Ry.  Co.,  Altoona,  Pa. 

C.  P.  Barnett,  the  son  of  a farmer,  engineer  for  the  Urban 
Construction  Co.,  of  Kansas  City. 

W.  A.  Ruggles,  draftsman  for  Board  of  Education,  St.  Louis, 

Mo. 

W.  B.  Stelzner,  of  Oklahoma,  employed  by  the  General  Elec- 
trical Company,  at  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

R.  B.  Bryan,  of  Nevada  County,  with  the  Little  Rock  Railway 
and  Electrical  Company. 

A.  J.  Gladson,  son  of  an  Iowa  farmer,  consulting  engineer, 
Seattle,  Wash. 

D.  W.  and  B.  J.  McCloud  worked  their  way  through  the  Uni- 
versity. The  former  is  with  Consolidated  Light  and  Power  Co., 
of  St.  Louis,  and  the  latter  is  in  the  employ  of  the  Bell  Telephone  Co. 

The  following  is  a short  record  of  some  of  the  civil  engineer 
graduates  who  came  to  the  University  from  the  farm : 

W.  E.  Ayers,  Mississippi  County. 

Since  graduating  has  been  in  successful  practice,  principally  in 
railway  work,  designs  and  construction  of  waterworks  and  sewerage 
systems;  now  located  at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  as  consulting  engineer. 

A.  H.  Beard,  Cross  County. 

Superintendent,  constructing  filters  for  the  following  cities : 
Butler,  Pa.;  St.  Joseph,  Mo.;  Birmingham,  Ala.,  and  Suffolk,  Va. 

J.  H.  Blair,  Benton  County. 

Draftsman,  Cambria  Steel  Co.,  Johnstown,  Pa. ; chief  draftsman 
for  Virginia  Bridge  and  Iron  Co.,  Roanoke,  Va.  At  present  chief 
engineer  of  the  Southwestern  Bridge  Co.,  Joplin,  Mo. 


14 


J.  C.  Blaylock,  Washington  County. 

Degree  from  Cornell  University  in  one  year ; assistant  engineer 
with  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Ry.  At  present  assistant 
engineer  with  Geo.  W.  Jackson  Co.,  constructing  water-works  tunnel 
for  the  city  of  Chicago. 

F.  B.  Barrett,  Craighead  County. 

Assistant  engineer  on  the  United  States  Geological  Survey.  At 
present  draftsman,  with  the  Southwestern  Bridge  Co.,  Joplin,  Mo. 

V.  H.  Cochrane,  Benton  County. 

For  a number  of  years  chief  draftsman  for  Waddell  & Hedrick, 
Kansas  City,  Mo. ; inspector  of  materials  for  the  Sixth  Street  via- 
duct, Kansas  City.  At  present  chief  draftsman  for  Waddell  & Har- 
rington, Kansas  City. 

C.  W.  Cromwell,  Sebastian  County. 

Draftsman,  Virginia  Bridge  & Iron  Works,  Roanoke,  Va. ; 
draftsman,  Southwestern  Bridge  Co.,  Joplin,  Mo.  At  present  con- 
sulting engineer,  Omaha,  Neb. 

C.  J.  Eld,  Benton  County. 

Engineer  of  construction  for  the  water-works  systems  of  St. 
Charles,  Mo.,  and  St.  Joseph,  Mo. ; superintendent  of  construction 
of  the  South  Pittsburg  Water  Works  (cost  $2,000,000.00).  At 
present  at  Birmingham,  Ala.,  in  charge  of  the  reconstruction  of  the 
city’s  water-works  system. 

Ira  G.  Hedrick,  Washington  County. 

One  of  our  most  successful  graduates.  For  a number  of  years 
a member  of  the  firm  of  Waddell  & Hedrick,  consulting  engineers, 
of  Kansas  City.  Among  some  of  the  most  important  structures 
designed  by  this  firm  are  the  following : East  Omaha  Bridge,  cost- 
ing about  one  and  one-half  million  dollars ; the  Red  River  bridge ; 
bridges  for  the  Kansas  City,  Mexico  and  Orient  Ry. ; the  Sixth 
Street  viaduct,  Kansas  City,  Mo.  (costing  about  two  million  dol- 
lars) ; the  Fraser  River  bridge,  in  British  Columbia,  etc.  During 
the  last  few  years  Mr.  Hedrick  has  gone  into  business  for  himself 
as  consulting  engineer.  He  is  president  of  the  Kansas  City  Viaduct 
Co.,  member  of  the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers,  member  of 
the  Institute  of  Civil  Engineers  of  England. 


15 


H.  N.  Pharr,  Lee  County. 

From  1893  to  1897  was  division  engineer  on  the  St.  Francis 
Levee;  1897  to  1907,  chief  engineer  of  the  St.  Francis  Levee  Dis- 
trict, Memphis.  At  present  consulting  engineer,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

W.  E.  Pruett,  Franklin  County. 

For  a number  of  years  was  assistant  engineer  for  the  Chicago 
Sanitary  District.  At  present  designer,  Bridge  and  Buildings  De- 
partment, Chicago,  Milwaukee  & St.  Paul  Ry.,  Chicago. 

The  following  is  a partial  list  of  former  students  in  Geology 
and  Mining,  with  brief  reference  to  their  subsequent  record,  all  of 
whom  came  from  the  farm  or  from  humble  homes : 

R.  L.  Austin,  Crawford  County. 

A graduate  from  the  department  of  ,geology,  has  done  field 
work  on  the  United  States  Geological  Survey;  is  now  a teacher  in 
the  Lonoke  High  School. 

Carl  Smith,  Ouachita  County. 

Has  for  several  years  been  employed  on  United  States  Geo- 
logical Survey,  and  is  one  of  the  most  efficient  men  in  the  geology 
of  coal. 

Storer  Leverett,  Washington  County. 

Since  graduation  has  been  doing  geological  work  for  private 
companies  in  Mexico. 

N.  P.  Pope,  Drew  County. 

Has  worked  on  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  and  for 
one  year  was  instructor  in  geology  in  the  University  of  Texas. 

M.  J.  Mann,  Nevada  County. 

* Came  to  the  University  a poor  boy.  He  is  not  a graduate  of 
the  University,  but  had  his  major  work  in  geology,  and  for  some 
years  has  been  a member  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey, 

* and  is  now  probably  the  leading  worker  of  that  bureau  on  oil  and 
natural  gas.  While  at  the  University  he  made  all  of  his  expenses 
by  work.  He  is  known  throughout,  the  East  as  an  authority  on  the 
geology  of  gas  and  oil,  and  has  been  offered  three  thousand  dollars 
a year  to  leave  and  go  into  private  work,  but  has  refused  the  offer. 


16 


R.  D.  Mesler,  Sebastian  County. 

Has  done  a great  deal  of  work  in  the  department  of  geology, 
and  for  several  years  has  put  in  his  summers  working  for  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey.  Last  summer  he  was  sent  by  the 
bureau  to  Alaska. 

H.  D.  Miser,  Benton  County. 

Mr.  Miser  is  a recent  graduate  from  the  department  of  geology. 
He  is  now  doing  efficient  work  on  the  State  Geological  Survey, 
and  is  considered  by  his  professor  as  one  of  the  most  promising 
young  geologists  of  the  country. 

Several  others  have  been  temporarily  or  permanently  employed 
by  the  United  States  Geological  Survey. 

MINING  STUDENTS. 

Our  course  in  mining  has  been  established  but  four  years,  con- 
sequently but  two  graduates  have  been  turned  out  from  this  course. 
One  of  these  Mr.  M.  E.  Jacks,  of  Phillips  County,  a poor  boy,  is 
doing  well  as  a mining  engineer  in  Arizona. 

M.  K.  Orr,  Pulaski  County. 

Mr.  Orr,  the  other  graduate  of  this  department,  worked  for  a 
time  in  the  mines  of  Mercury,  Utah,  and  is  now  in  Mexico. 

The  mining  students  that  are  still  under-graduates,  find  no 
difficulty  in  getting  employment  in  the  mines  during  the  summer 
vacation. 

C.  O.  Bates,  the  son  of  a farmer,  is  professor  of  chemistry  in 
Coe  College,  la. 

E.  H.  Braly,  the  son  of  a farmer,  is  an  engineer  for  William 
Kenefick  Co.,  Kansas  City. 

S.  E.  Dean,  the  son  of  a farmer,  is  surveyor  for  the  C.  C.  C.  Co., 
Wyoming. 

G.  V.  Skelton,  the  son  of  a farmer,  is  professor  of  civil  engineer- 
ing, in  the  State  University  of  Oregon. 

A.  C.  Wood,  the  son  of  a doctor  in  moderate  circumstances,  is  a 
consulting  mechanical  engineer,  at  Philadelphia.  B.  F.  Wood,  his 
brother,  is  assistant  engineer,  motive  power,  Pa.  Ry.  Co.,  Altoona, 
Pa. 

G.  W.  Droke,  the  son  of  a farmer,  is  at  the  head  of  the  depart- 
ment of  mathematics,  in  the  University  of  Arkansas. 


17 


J.  F.  Mays,  the  son  of  a farmer,  is  United  States  Marshal  of 
Western  District  of  Arkansas. 

G.  W.  Mullins,  the  son  of  a farmer,  is  professor  of  mathe- 
matics, in  Simmons  College,  Tex. 

R.  J.  Middleton,  the  son  of  a farmer,  is  assistant  engineer  of 
a railroad  company  in  Iowa. 

This  list  might  be  indefinitely  extended.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  the  great  bulk  of  alumni  and  ex-students  who  are  now  accom- 
plishing things  out  in  the  world,  came  to  the  University  from  the 
farm,  and  from  the  humblest  homes  in  the  state.  The  cabin  in  the 
highlands  and  the  cottage  in  the  valley  have  furnished  and  will  con- 
tinue to  furnish  the  choicest  grist  for  that  educational  mill,  and  crude 
as  this  grain  may  be  when  it  enters,  it  comes  out  a finished  product 
of  superior  excellence. 

The  University  students  have  succeeded  in  other  lines.  A num- 
ber of  our  men  are  members  of  the  present  House  and  Senate.  The 
Governor  is  an  ex-University  student.  So  are  three  of  our  congress- 
men, one  of  our  senators,  the  attorney  general  of  the  state  and  three 
of  the  supreme  court  judges. 

MILITARY  DEPARTMENT. 

This  department  of  the  University  has  gone  forward  rapidly 
in  efficiency  during  the  last  two  years.  In  June,  1908,  a competitive 
examination  was  held  at  Ft.  Leavenworth,  Kan.,  for  commissions  in 
the  regular  army.  This  competition  was  open  to  the  whole  nation,  and 
for  ninety  of  these  commissions  there  were  more  than  two  hundred 
candidates.  Two  candidates  from  our  military  department  entered 
this  contest;  both  were  successful,  and  have  since  secured  commis- 
sions as  lieutenants  in  the  regular  service,  Mr.  O.  S.  Wood,  of 
Sebastian  County,  being  assigned  to  the  16th  Infantry,  and  Mr.  J.  R. 
Ellis  to  the  Artillery  Corps.  These  commissions  mean  an  initial 
salary  of  about  $2,000.00  per  annum.  Last  year  at  the  annual  in- 
spection, on  April  16th,  although  it  was  near  the  close  of  the  session, 
546  men  were  under  arms.  The  inspector  was  a captain  from  the 
regular  army.  They  are  not  given  to  flattery,  but  he  gave  us  a 
most  favorable  report,  from  which  I quote  the  following  para- 
graph ; 

“The  general  appearance  of  the  student  body  was  good ; cloth- 
ing neat  and  well  fitting ; set-up  good ; arms  and  equipment  in  good 
condition.  The  movements  at  review  and  inspection,  dress  parade, 
and  regimental  drill,  all  of  which  were  conducted  by  the  military 


18 


instructor,  were  well  executed.  The  battalion  and  company  drills 
under  the  cadet  officers  were  fair.  A detachment  of  twenty-two 
boys,  averaging  sixteen  years  of  age,  but  too  small  to  handle  the 
rifle  and  perform  duty  in  the  battalion,  are  organized  as  a signal 
detachment.  These  are  drilled  in  the  school  of  the  soldier,  squad, 
company,  in  close  order  without  arms,  and  are  instructed  in  signal- 
ing. They  sent  and  received  messages  with  the  flag  effectively.” 

FRATERNITIES. 

The  fraternity  quarrel  is  practically  settled.  There  have  always 
been  two  sides  to  the  fraternity  question ; they  are  hurtful  to  some 
extent,  and  in  some  places,  but  they  are  helpful  in  many  ways.  The 
argument  against  them  is  that  they  are  exclusive  and  undemocratic. 
But  the  family  is  exclusive  and  undemocratic,  union  labor  and 
farmers’  organizations,  excellent  and  worthy  as  they  are,  are  some- 
what exclusive ; all  social  and  fraternal  organizations  the  wide 
world  over  are  exclusive.  Fraternities  should  be  regulated  by  strict 
faculty  rules ; they  should  not  be  permitted  to  practice  snobbery, 
chapter  houses  should  be  free  from  liquor  and  cards,  students  should 
not  be  allowed  to  enter  fraternities  until  they  pass  the  mid-term 
examinations  in  the  freshman  class.  The  matter  of  regulating  these 
societies,  I think,  should  be  left  to  the  faculty  and  to  the  board  of 
trustees.  Indeed,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  Legislature  should  not 
burden  itself  with  matters  pertaining  to  discipline  and  internal  uni- 
versity management,  but  such  matters  should  be  left  to  the  board 
of  trustees  and  the  faculty,  who  keep  in  close  and  continuous  touch 
with  all  such  questions. 

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES. 

The  Legislature  will  be  approached  with,  various  suggestions 
on  the  subject  of  the  appointment  of  the  board  of  trustees.  It  has 
been  the  custom  from  the  beginning  in  this  state  for  the  members 
of  the  board  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor  and  confirmed  by  the 
senate.  This  method  of  selecting  the  board  is  in  vogue  in  almost 
all  the  states.  It  has  the  sanction  of  President  Elliot,  for  forty 
years  at  the  head  of  Harvard  College.  His  opinion  is  that  the 
board  should  be  composed  of  from  seven  to  nine  members,  and  that 
they  should  be  appointed  and  confirmed  as  above  suggested.  I think 
the  superintendent  of  public  instruction  should  be  a member  of  the 
board,  because  he  is  a school  man,  but  following  the  suggestion  of 
President  Elliot  it  is  not  always  a wise  thing  to  make  trustees  of 


19 


men  elected  to  other  offices,  and  whose  qualifications  for  trustees 
are  not  considered  in  their  selection.  In  other  words,  they  are  not 
elected  because  of  their  qualification  for  trustees,  but  because  of  their 
qualification  for  some  other  position,  whereas  if  they  are  selected  by 
the  governor  for  the  trusteeship  he  considers  their  qualifications  for 
this  position.  Constant  change  is  hurtful  to  any  institution,  and 
usually  those  desiring  a change  in  the  method  of  selecting  the  board 
are  apt  to  have  selfish  motives  in  view,  and  are  not  inspired  by  a 
desire  to  advance  the  institution.  President  Elliot’s  opinion  is  that 
it  is  a mistake  to  elect  members  of  this  board,  that  it  does  not  have 
the  effect  of  taking  an  institution  out  of  politics,  but  that  it  will 
have  a tendency  to  get  the  institution  into  politics. 

SALARIES. 

I think  the  matter  of  fixing  salaries  should  be  left  to  the  board, 
but  if  any  change  should  be  made,  salaries  at  the  University  should 
be  raised  rather  than  lowered.  The  officers  of  this  institution  are 
doing  more  work  for  less  pay  than  any  other  institution  of  its  size 
and  importance  in  the  country.  The  University  of  Arkansas  pays 
its  president  $4,000.00,  and  the  heads  of  the  different  departments 
$2,000.00,  and  furnishes  no  houses  for  either.  The  following  list 
of  universities  pay  their  presidents  and  head  professors  the  amount 
opposite  the  names  of  these  institutions,  and  the  great  majority  of 
them  furnish  houses  in  addition : 


University. 

President. 

Professor. 

California  

. .$10,000  00 

and 

house 

$5,000  00 

Colorado  

and 

house 

2,500  00 

Connecticut  

■ • 5,500  00 

and 

house 

3,000  00 

Indiana 

and 

house 

4,000  00 

Iowa  

and 

house 

4,000  00 

Ames  Agr.  College  (la.). 

0 

0 

0 

0 

<0 

LO 

and 

house 

4,000  00 

Kansas  

and 

house 

2,600  00 

Maine  

. . 5,000  00 

and 

house 

2,000  00 

Michigan  

and 

house 

4,000  00 

Minnesota  

. . 7,500  00 

2,700  00 

Miss.  Agr.  College 

. . 4,500  00 

and 

house 

2,000  00 

University  of  Miss 

b 

0 

0 

o' 

0 

and 

house 

2,500  00 

Missouri 

. . 6,000  00 

and 

house 

2,850  00 

Nebraska  

2,400  >00 

Nevada  

. . 4,800  00 

2,400  00 

Agr.  College,  N.  D 

. . 4,800  00 

2,550  00 

University,  Columbus,  O.  . . 

. . 5,000  00 

2,500  00 

Oxford,  Ohio  

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

VO 

and 

house 

2,500  00 

Athens,  Ohio  , 

5,000  00 

2,500  00 

20 


University. 

State  College,  Pa 

Tennessee  

Blacksburg,  Va.,  University. 

Charlottesville,  Va 

Pullman,  Wash.,  Univ 

Wash.  Univ.,  Seattle 

Wisconsin  


President. 

$ 5,000  oo  and  house 
4,500  00  and  house 
5,000  60  and  house 
5,000  00  and  house 

5.000  00 
4,500  00 

7.000  00  house  and  fuel 


Professor. 
$3,000  00 

2.000  00 
1,800  00 

3.000  00 
2,500  00 
2,100  00 

4.000  00 


STUDENT  FEES. 

Each  student  is  charged  ten  dollars  matriculation  fee,  and  those 
who  occupy  the  dormitory  are  charged  five  dollars  a year  for  the 
use  of  the  room.  These  fees  should  not  be  lowered^  but  raised  if 
changed  at  all.  Many  people  in  the  state  who  pay  taxes  get  no 
benefit  from  the  school,  and  the  student  who  attends  should  at  least 
be  required  to  pay  these  small  fees  for  the  extra  privilege  he  en- 
joys over  others  who  do  not  come.  There  is  not  sufficient  dor- 
mitory room  for  one-third  of  the  students,  therefore  those  who 
occupy  these  rooms  are  a favored  class  who  should  pay  the  small 
sum  of  five  dollars  a year;  whereas,  those  who  do  not  get  rooms 
in  the  dormitories  are  compelled  to  pay  more  than  five  dollars  per 
month  for  rooms  in  town.  Many  of  the  universities  charge  a 
matriculation  fee  of  $30.00  a year,  and  charge  two  or  three  times 
as  much  for  room  rent  in  the  dormitories  as  we  do.  This  money 
goes  into  a general' fund,  and  is  the  only  fund  that  is  elastic;  our 
law  requires  that  the  Legislature  shall  specify  the  particular  pur- 
pose for  which  each  item  mentioned  in  the  appropriation  bill  shall 
be  expended,  so  there  is  great  need  of  a general  fund  to  meet  emer- 
gencies, and  piece  out  any  particular  fund  that  may  fall  short  of 
being  sufficiently  large.  For  instance,  this  year  the  appropriation 
for  coal  and  water  and  a dozen  more  important  items  fell  far  short 
of  being  enough,  so  it  became  necessary  to  get  this  from  the  general 
fund.  It  is  now  made  a criminal  offense  for  anyone  to  permit  a 
state  institution  to  go  in  debt,  so  it  is  important  to  provide  for  just 
such  a fund  as  this,  to  meet  just  such  emergencies,  and  this  fund 
comes  from  those  who  get  benefits,  which  the  great  mass  of  tax- 
payers do  not  get.  It  is  best  to  get  it  from  them  rather  than  from 
the  treasury. 

In  this  connection  let  me  urge  the  Legislature  to  give  a large 
Student  Labor  Fund.  This  money  goes  back  to  the  people  more 
directly  than  any  other  item  appropriated.  This  fund  is  available 
for  both  boys  and  girls,  and  but  for  it  a great  many  worthy  young 
people  could  not  attend  the  institution  at  all. 


Below  is  a partial  list  of  students  who  get  the  benefit  of  the 
student  labor  fund,  showing  the  county  from  which  they  come,  and 
the  amount  of  their  monthly  earnings : 


Arkansas  County — 

R.  R.  McPherson,  Stuttgart  $ 3 oo 

Walter  Fuqua  4 50 

Myrtle  Sampson,  Stuttgart  15  00 

Benton  County — 

A.  F.  Bills,  Sulphur  Springs 15  00 

Don  Stover,  Rogers 15  00 

R.  E.  Womack,  Centerton 14  00 

W.  V.  Womack,  Centerton  : 12  50 

J.  H.  Blair,  Decatur  ' 12  50 

H.  E.  Phillips,  Gravette 8 00 

Peter  McKinley,  Garfield  5 00 

M.  R.  Phillips,  Gravette 10  00 

R.  George,  Bright  Water 10  00 

G.  C.  George,  Bright  Water 4 50 

E.  M.  Ratliff 4 50 

Boone  County — 

F.  G.  Snell  6 00 

Denny  Eoff,  Bellefonte 10  00 

May  Zeigler  6 00 

Bradley  County — 

P.  H.  Carruth,  Warren 6 50 

Carroll  County — 

R.  C.  Gibson,  Berryville  10  00 

J.  W.  Oliver,  Eureka  4 50 

Chicot  County — 

Marvin  Lee  Board  at  Dormitory 

Crawford  County — 

Arthur  King,  Van  Buren  ! . . . 3 50 

Walter  King,  Van  Buren  3 50 

L.  E.  Winfrey,  Rudy 8 00 

Theron  Blair,  Van  Buren 20  00 

Miss  Viola  Hatly Board  at  Girls’  Dormitory  and  5 00 

Columbia  County — 

Jno.  Browning,  Springhill to  00 

P.  D.  Hackworth,  Magnolia  10  60 

W.  G.  Morgan,  Magnolia  10  00 

Clay  County — 

S.  B.  Mitchell,  Greenway 15  00 

Cross  County — 

A.  Robertson  3 00 

Cleveland  F.  McGeehee  4 50 


Cleveland  County — 

F.  M.  McGehee 


22 


\ 


$ 4 50 

Clark  County — 

V.  E.  Parsons,  Arkadelphia Board  at  Dormitory  and  3 00 

G.  C.  Breckenridge,  Arkadelphia  7 50 

Craighead  County — 

A.  J.  Barrett 20  00 

D.  R.  Barton,  Jonesboro  7 00 

Drew  County — 

W.  W.  Grubbs,  Wilmar Board  at  Dormitory 

Dallas  County — 

F.  S.  Delamar,  Dalark 10  00 


Franklin  County — 

I.  L.  Welton,  Redding  5 00 

J.  E.  Goodbar,  Charleston ..Board  at  Dormitory  and  4 00 

R.  M.  Austin,  Charleston Board  at  Dormitory  and  3 00 


Grant  County — 

E.  M.  Ross  4 50 

Bernard  Toler,  Leola  8 00 


Greene  County — 

Roy  Vickers  15  00 

C.  L.  Hyatt 4 50 

Garland  County — 

Stephens  Spargo,  Hot  Springs 4 00 

Bert  Fleming,  .Hot  Springs  12  00 


Hempstead  County — 

Ed  Taylor,  Blevins  15  00 

R.  E.  Wood,  Blevins  8 00 

W.  D.  Ely,  Belton * 4 50 


Howard  County — 

T.  A.  Green,  Mineral  Springs  10  00 

Hot  Springs  County — 

Maurice  Williams,  Lora 2 50 

Independence  County — 

Henry  Hotchkiss,  Batesville Board  at  Dormitory 

J.  G.  Moore,  Sulphur  Rock  4 50 

W.  J.  Jernigan  12  00 


Izard  County — 

J.  L.  Bledsoe  6 00 

Jefferson  County — 

Ben  Cheek,  Pine  Bluff 7 00 

Jackson  County — 

P.  B.  Gardner  9 00 

P.  F.  McAuley,  Weldon 10  00 


-a* 


23 


/ 


Johnson  County — 

A.  J.  Umholtz,  Turn $ 6 oo 

Little  River  County — 

Miss  Louise  Cheever,  Richmond  15  00 


Lee  County — 

T.  B.  Freeman,  Marianna  3 50 

H.  H.  Holtzclaw,  Vineyard  12  50 

Raymond  Jacks,  Marianna  12  50 

Miss  Z.  Langston,  Vineyard. ...  Board  at  Girls’  Dormitory 

Lafayette  County — 

C.  E.  Oxford,  Stamps Board  at  Dormitory 

H.  C.  Sheffield,  Lewisville Board  at  Dormitory 

Lonoke  County — 

L.  M.  Hinchee,  Carlisle  6 00 

S.  W.  Moore,  Cabot 10  00 

Logan  County — 

E.  A.  Orrick Board  at  Dormitory 


Lawrence  County — 

J.  H.  Wasson,  Smithville 9 50 

P.  L.  Wasson,  Smithville 9 50 

Marion  County — 

J.  P.  Woods,  Yellville 15  00 


Miller  County — 

Cecil  Cash,  Texarkana  20  00 

Jim  Cook,  Texarkana  10  00 


Monroe  County — 

Miss  Sarah  Hall,  Holly  Grove 15  00 

Jay  Williams,  Clarendon  15  00 

J.  J.  Jackson,  Indian  Bay 4 50 


Ouachita  County — 

S.  A.  Thompson,  Stephens  6 00 

V.  T.  Moon 15  00 

Phil  Huntly,  Kirkland  12  50 

Miss  Elma  Mlorgan,  Stephens Board  at  Dormitory 


Polk  County — 

Joe  C.  Allen  

W.  H.  Barton,  Cove  .... 
Leonard  Wootton,  Mena 

Duke  Frederick 

Pope  County — 

Floyd  Webb,  Hector  . . . 
Tom  Caudle,  Scottsville  . 
T.  J.  Bullock,  Dover  .... 
G.  G.  Strickland,  Atkins  . 
P.  S.  Hudson,  Moreland 
J.  E.  McCain,  Russellville 
O.  M.  Alewine,  Atkins. . . . 


Board  at  Dormitory  and  15  00 

2 00 

30  00 


Board  at  Dormitory 


4 00 

• • • 4 50 

12  00 

12  00 

12  00 

4 50 

Board  and  3 00 


24 


Pulaski  County — 

T.  B.  Johnson,  Jacksonville 

E.  W.  Prothro,  Frank Board  at  Dormitory 

R.  D.  Highfill,  Argenta  

Vance  Crawford,  Little  Rock  

H.  S.  Bagley,  Little  Rock  

R.  M.  Hutchins,  Little  Rock 

John  Willis,  Little  Rock 


4 50 

4 50 
7 50 
25  00 
15  00 
10  00 


Randolph  County — 

R.  K.  Baker,  Pocahontas 12  50 

Saline  County — 

Fred  Bennett,  Benton  15  00 

Sevier  County — 

C.  H.  Metcalf,  Horatio 15  00 

C.  G.  Milford,  Ben  Lomond 20  00 

R.  M.  Milwee,  Horatio 6 00 

H.  C.  McKeon,  De  Queen . 4 50 


Sebastian  County — 

W.  C.  M'urphy,  Ft.  Smith 15  00 

Paul  Caudle,  Ft.  Smith 6 50 

Walter  West,  Lacrosse  • 8 00 


Washington  County — 

T.  I.  Wozencraft  1 00 

Roland  Lea ; . . 12  00 

J.  J.  Milligan Board 

W.  O.  Williams,  Winslow 12  00 

G.  E.  Williams 5 00 

Union  County — 

J.  W.  Byrd,  Smackover  10  00 


White  County — 

C.  G.  Bradford,  West  Point 12  50 

L.  R.  Burkhalter,  Higginson 10  00 

C.  H.  Ray  20  00 


Woodruff  County — 

Cecil  Trice,  Cotton  Plant Room  and  Board 

H.  L.  Lambert,  Augusta 

W.  N.  Wilks,  Augusta  Board  at  Dormitory 


12  00 


Van  Buren  County — 

G.  C.  Rorie,  Retreat 


Board  at  Dormitory 


Self-help  is  encouraged  in  every  way  at  the  University.  A 
goodly  number  of  young  men  and  women  work  at  different  homes 
in  Fayetteville  for  their  board.  Besides  this  some  act  as  agents  for 
laundries,  for  life  insurance  companies,  for  book  houses,  for  frater- 
nity and  class  emblems  and  pennants,  and  in  various  other  ways. 


25 


R.  C.  Goodwin,  of  Union ; J.  L.  Shipley,  of  Oklahoma  ; Jack  Thomas, 
and  H.  Smith,  of  Sevier;  R.  D.  Smith,  of  Marion,  and  Guy  Smith, 
of  Franklin,  make  from  $10.00  to  $12.00  per  month  pressing  clothes 
for  the  students.  Jo  Goodbar,  Estes  Allen  and  Cecil  Cash  write  for 
some  of  the  daily  newspapers  and  thus  earn  a small  monthly  income. 

• Grover  Morris,  from  Lonoke,  now  a student  at  Oxford,  England, 
paid  his  way  through  college  in  this  manner.  In  this*body  there  are 
a half  dozen  men  who  washed  dishes,  did  janitor  work  and  literally 
swept  their  way  through  the  University  with  a broom.  The  three 
scholarships  at  Oxford  awarded  Arkansas  students  were  won  by 
University  men — Carothers,  Keith  and  Morris,  each  one  of  whom 
earned  all  or  a part  of  his  school  expenses  by  self-help. 

THE  FEDERAL  FUND. 

Some  complaint  has  been  made  that  the  Morrill  Fund  has  not 
been  used  solely  for  instruction  in  agriculture.  All  the  fund  has 
been  used  for  that  purpose  that  could  have  been  used.  This  act 
provides  that  the  money,  a portion  of  which  goes  to  the  negroes  at 
Pine  Bluff,  shall  be  applied  to  instruction  in  agriculture,  the 
mechanic  arts,  the  English  language  and  the  various  branches  of 
mathematical,  physical,  natural  and  economic  science  with  special 
reference  to  their  applications  in  the  industries  of  life  and  to  the 
facilities  for  such  instruction.  The  money  has  been  expended  for 
these  purposes  only  and  has  been  fairly  distributed.  Congress 
appropriates  this  money  and  directs  that  it  shall  be  expended  in 
this  way. 

NEW  BUILDINGS. 

The  trustees  now  ask  for  three  new  buildings,  and  they  are 
imperatively  needed.  I refer  to  them  in  the  order  of  their  import- 
ance. First,  a library  and  an  auditorium ; second,  a building  for 
geology,  museum  and  mining,  with  room  for  department  of  physics ; 
third,  a Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  building,  armory  and  gymna- 
sium combined,  and  equipment.  The  present  library  is  located  on 
* the  second  floor  of  the  main  building  just  over  the  chapel  and  assem- 

bly room.  This  room  contains  15,000  volumes  besides  the  tables 
and  bookcases.  On  account  of  the  crowded  condition  of  the  school 
» the  collegiate  students  are  compelled  to  use  this  room  for  a study  hall. 

Our  engineers  say  that  this  weight  is  too  great  and  may  some  day 
result  in  a catastrophe.  The  assembly  hall  below  seats  less  than  800, 
so  that  all  the  students  can  not  be  seated  at  chapel ; and  during  the 
commencement  exercises  large  crowds  are  turned  away  because  of 


26 


a lack  of  seating  capacity.  If  you  appropriate  money  for  a library 
building  and  auditorium  combined  this  strain  on  the  building  will 
be  relieved  and  these  two  halls  can  be  used  for  class  or  lecture  rooms, 
and  thus  the  congested  condition  of  the  main  building  will  be  greatly 
relieved. 

Next  to  the  library  and  auditorium  we  need  a building  for 
geology,  mining  and  physics.  The  department  of  geology  and 
mining  is  cared  for  now  on  the  top  floor  of  the  main  building  and 
the  space  there  is  totally  inadequate  for  teaching  purposes  and  for 
taking  care  of  the  valuable  collections  belonging  to  the  institution. 
Besides  this  the  department  of  physics  is  now  located  in  a miserable 
frame  building  totally  unfitted  for  this  important  department. 

From  the  standpoint  of  a geologist  Arkansas  is  the  most  inter- 
esting state  in  the  Union.  At  the  expense  of  being  considered 
tedious  I beg  to  be  allowed  to  set  forth  somewhat  in  detail  some 
data  which  I consider  important,  touching  upon  the  geological  and 
mineral  wealth  of  Arkansas.  Besides  cotton,  fruit  and  grain,  our 
state  has  natural  resources  in  the  way  of  mines  that  will  one  day 
make  us  a rich  people,  and  this  fact  emphasizes  the  importance  of 
better  facilities  for  teaching  and  investigation  of  this  important 
subject.  Here  are  some  of  our  natural,  but  as  yet  comparatively 
undeveloped,  resources : 

ANTIMONY. 

As  early  as  1873  antimony  was  mined  in  Sevier  County,  near 
Antimony.  An  indeterminable  amount  of  ore  was  produced.  The 
mines  have  been  shut  down  for  many  years,  though  it  is  reported 
that  recently  there  have  been  attempts  to  open  them  up. 

BAUXITE. 

Bauxite,  the  principal  ore  of  aluminum,  occurs  over  an  area 
about  twenty  miles  long  and  five  or  six  miles  wide,  the  longer  axis 
extending  northeast  and  southwest.  It  lies  in  the  southern  part  of 
Pulaski  County  and  the  northern  part  of  Saline  County.  This  is 
one  of  only  three  localities  in  the  United  States  where  bauxite  has 
been  discovered  in  commercial  quantities. 

BITUMINOUS  SANDSTONE. 

Bituminous  sandstone  has  been  quarried  near  Pike  City  in 
Pike  County.  The  product  of  the  quarry  was  used  in  paving  streets 
in  the  City  of  Little  Rock.  Another  deposit  is  known  in  Sevier 


27 


County,  east  of  DeQueen,  though  no  attempt  has  been  made  to 
open  it  up. 

BUILDING  STONE. 

Limestone  of  superior  quality  for  building  stone  occurs  in  the 
two  northern  tiers  of  counties,  west  of  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain 
& Southern  Railroad.  This  is  quarried  for  the  market  in  only  two 
places,  one  of  which  is  near  Batesville,  Independence  County,  and  the 
other  near  Eureka  Springs,  Carroll  County.  That  quarried  in  Inde- 
pendence County  is  a beautiful  gray  stone  of  superior  quality.  That 
quarried  in  Carroll  County  is  a good  stone,  and  is  quite  extensively 
used. 

Marble,  red,  gray  and  pink  in  color  outcrops  at  numerous  places 
along  White  River  and  its  tributaries.  Black  marble  occurs  near 
Marshall,  Searcy  County,  and  Jamestown,  Independence  County. 
Though  marble  is  widespread  over  the  northern  part  of  the  state, 
it  is  not  quarried  anywhere,  except  for  local  use. 

Sandstone,  well  suited  for  building,  occurs  at  numerous  points 
distributed  over  the  highland  portion  of  the  state,  both  north  and 
south  of  the  Arkansas  River. 

CHALK. 

Chalk  outcrops  over  a strip  less  than  one-half  mile  wide,  extend- 
ing northeast  and  southwest  from  White  Cliffs,  Sevier  County, 
through  Howard,  Hempstead,  Nevada  and  Clark  Counties,  almost  to 
Arkadelphia.  A plant  for  the  manufacture  of  Portland  cement 
was  erected  at  White  Cliffs  some  years  ago,  but  on  account  of  litiga- 
tion it  has  not  been  successfully  operated. 

CLAYS. 

Clays,  from  those  of  coarse  to  those  of  very  fine  quality,  occur 
abundantly  in  Arkansas.  Dr.  J.  C.  Branner,  Vice-President  of 
Stanford  University,  and  ex-State  Geologist  of  Arkansas,  has  made 
a special  study  of  the  clays  of  the  state,  and  says  that  Arkansas,  on 
account  of  the  abundance  of  its  shale  and  clay  deposits  and  its 
climate,  which  is  well  adapted  to  clay  manufacture,  should  be  the 
leading  manufacturing  state  in  the  line  of  clay  products. 

COAL. 

Coal  is  extensively  mined  in  the  Arkansas  Valley  from  the 
western  border  of  the  state  as  far' east  as  Russellvilte.  The  coal 


28 


of  most  of  the  area  is  bituminous,  though  semi-anthracite  coal  occurs 
in  the  eastern  part.  A thin  vein  of  coal  outcrops  in  many  places 
north  of  the  Boston  Mountains,  and  is  mined  for  local  use  at  a few 
points  in  Washington,  Madison  and  Newton  Counties.  The  state’s 
production  of  coal  in  1907  was  2,6 40,670  short  tons. 

COPPER. 

Copper  ore  has  been  mined  to  some  extent  on  Tomahawk  Creek, 
Searcy  County,  and  in  the  northern  part  of  Sevier  County,  though 
the  operations  have  not  been  successful. 

FULLER’S  EARTH. 

Fuller’s  earth  is  produced  at  Bauxite,  Saline  County,  on  the 
Rock  Island  Railroad. 


GLASS  SAND. 

Glass  sand  of  exceptionally  fine  quality  occurs  in  northern 
Arkansas,  along  White  River  and  its  tributaries.  It  is  quarried  at 
Guion,  Izard  County,  on  the  White  River,  branch  of  the  St.  Louis, 
Iron  Mountain  & Southern  Railroad.  The  novaculite  of  the  Ouachita 
Mountains  probably  would  produce  glass  of  fine  quality. 

GOLD. 

Gold  has  frequently  been  reported,  and  at  times  the  supposed 
finds  have  produced  considerable  excitement,  in  the  area  of  the 
Ouachita  Mountains,  occupied  mainly  by  the  counties  of  Hot 
Springs,  Garland,  Montgomery,  Polk,  Pike  and  Howard ; but  care- 
ful examinations  by  the  Geological  Survey  of  Arkansas  shows  that 
in  most  cases  no  gold  was  present.  In  others  there  was  only  a 
trace. 

GYPSUM, 

There  is  an  exposure  of  about  seven  feet  of  gypsum  at  Plaster 
Bluff,  southwest  of  Murfreesboro,  Pike  County,  on  the  Little 
Missouri  River.  This  bed  of  gypsum  is  exposed  at  several  places 
between  the  point  mentioned  and  Messers  Creek,  north  of  Center- 
point,  Howard  County. 

IRON. 

Iron  ores  of  low  grade  are  rather  widespread,  but  there  are 
probably  none  of  economic  value. 


29 


LEAD. 

Some  lead  occurs  in  the  counties  of  Northern  Arkansas,  later 
to  be  mentioned  under  the  head  of  zinc.  While  blocks  of  consider- 
able size  are  sometimes  found,  it  is  not  probable  that  the  region  will 
ever  be  much  of  a lead  producer.  Galena  is  the  common  ore.  Also, 
lead  has  been  found  in  Pulaski  County,  and  the  counties  to  the  west, 
containing  the  Ouachita  Mountains.  But  the  region  has  not  given 
promise  of  becoming  a lead  producer. 

MANGANESE. 

Rather  extensive  deposits  of  manganese  ore  occur  in  Inde- 
pendence County.  While  this  formerly  was  quite  actively  worked, 
little  is  being  done  at  the  present  time.  There  are  manganese 
deposits  in  Polk  and  Montgomery  Counties,  but  they  do  not  promise 
well. 

MEXICAN  ONYX. 

Mexican  onyx  is  quite  common  as  stalactites,  stalagmites  and 
other  cave  deposits  in  Northern  Arkansas. 

MINERAL  WATERS. 

Spring  and  well  waters  with  medicinal  value  occur  at  many 
points  within  the  state. 

NATURAL  GAS. 

Natural  gas  is  found  in  abundance  about  Mansfield  and  Ft. 
Smith.  This  is  the  principal  fuel  now  in  use  at  Ft.  Smith.  Further 
exploiting  will,  in  all  probability,  extend  the  field. 

NOVACULITE. 

Novaculite,  the  rock  from  which  the  Arkansas  abrasive  stones 
are  produced,  is  widespread  over  the  area  occupied  by  the  Ouachita 
Mountains  west  of  Hot  Springs.  It  is  quarried  chiefly  near  Hot 
Springs. 

PRECIOUS  STONES. 

Pearls  are  quite  extensively  produced  from  the  fresh-water 
molluscs  of  White  River  and  its  tributary,  Black  River.  Quartz 
crystal  of  the  finest  quality  are  quarried  in  the  Crystal  Mountains 
of  Montgomery  County,  and  sold  for  ornamental  and  museum  pur- 


30 


poses.  They  are  sometimes  cut  and  sold  as  “Hot  Springs  Dia- 
monds.” 

Diamonds  recently  have  been  discovered  over  a small  area  of 
igneous  rock,  about  three  miles  south  of  Murfreesboro,  Pike  County. 

PHOSPHATE  ROCK. 

Phosphate  rock  is  quarried  on  Lafterty  Creek,  northwest  of 
Batesville,  Independence  County.  This  in  all  probability  could  be 
produced  with  profit  at  other  points,  as  it  outcrops  both  east  and 
several  miles  west  of  the  points  mentioned. 

PYRITE. 

Pyrite  is  quite  common  in  the  carbonaceous  shales  that  are 
very  common  in  paleozoic  rocks  of  the  state ; but  if  it  occurs  in 
sufficient  quantity  anywhere  to  justify  mining,  it  is  not  as  yet  known. 

ROAD  MATERIAL. 

Arkansas  has  an  abundance  of  road  material,  consisting  of  lime- 
stone, shale,  chert  and  gravel.  Inasmuch  as  they  are  already  pre- 
pared by  nature,  probably  the  most  important  of  these  are  chert 
(flint)  and  gravel.  Chert  already  prepared  for  the  road  occurs 
very  commonly  at  the  base  of  the  hills  of  the  northern  counties, 
from  Baxter  County,  westward.  The  material  needs  only  to  be 
screened,  when  it  is  ready  for  use.  Likewise,  it  occurs  along  the 
mountains  of  Hot  Springs,  Garland,  Montgomery,  Polk,  Pike  and 
Howard  Counties.  Excellent  gravel  deposits  cap  the  hills  over 
large  areas  of  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  , 

SILVER. 

The  only  known  localities  within  the  state  that  give  promise 
of  producing  silver,  are  the  Kellogg  mine  of  Pulaski  County,  and 
the  Silver  City  district  in  Montgomery  County.  Assays,  especially 
from  the  Kellogg  mine,  show  silver  in  considerable  amounts. 

SLATE. 

Slate  deposits  are  widespread  in  the  counties  occupied  by  the 
Ouachita  Mountains,  south  of  the  Ouachita  River.  They  are  red, 
green,  black  and  gray  in  color.  A report  of  these  deposits  is  now 
in  course  of  preparation  by  the  State  Geologist. 


31 


SPRINGS. 

In  the  highland  region  of  the  northern  part  of  Arkansas  are 
hundreds  of  clear,  cold,  sparkling  springs,  such  as  may  be  seen  at 
Eureka  Springs.  Also  the  region  of  the  Ouachita  Mountains  con- 
tains a large  number  of  fine  springs.  Springs  in  other  parts  of 
the  state  are  not  uncommon,  though  not  so  fine  as  in  the  regions 
mentioned. 

WATER  POWER. 

White  River  and  its  tributaries  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
state,  and  the  streams  of  the  Ouachita  Mountains  in  the  central 
western  part,  are  capable  of  supplying  a large  amount  of  water 
power,  which  in  course  of  time  must  be  utilized. 

ZINC. 

Zinc  occurs  with  promise  of  being  in  paying  quantities  in  many 
parts  of  Newton,  Boone,  Marion,  Searcy,  Baxter,  Izard,  Sharp  and 
Lawrence  Counties.  The  important  ores  are  spalerite,  the  sulphide 
of  zinc,  and  smithsonite,  the  carbonite,  though  calaming,  one  of 
the  silicates,  occurs  in  some  places.  Mining  operations  have  been 
conducted  chiefly  in  Marion  County,  though  some  mining  has  been 
done  in  Newton,  Searcy,  Boone,  Sharp  and  Lawrence  Counties. 

Zinc  ore  (spalerite)  occurs  also  at  the  Kellogg  'mine,  Pulaski 
County,  and  in  the  northern  part  of  Sevier  County.  These  localities, 
however,  have  not  attracted  much  attention  as  possible  zinc  producers. 
Such  zinc  ore  as  has  been  found  was  incidental  to  the  search  for 
silver,  in  the  case  of  the  Kellogg  mine,  and  copper  in  northern 
Sevier  County. 

The  development  of  many  of  the  above  named  mineral  deposits 
is  a comparatively  simple  matter,  but  some  of  them,  among  which 
are  the  most  important,  need  to  be  extensively  experimented  upon. 
This  requires  facilities  and  more  room  that  we  now  have  at  the 
University.  It  is  the  desire  of  our  department  of  geology  not  only 
to  give  efficient  and  high-grade  instruction,  but  to,  in  every  way 
possible,  aid  in  developing  the  state’s  natural  resources.  Among 
lines  that  need  experimental  work  are  the  following : 

(a)  Experiments  on  the  clays  of  the  state  to  determine  the  best 
uses  to  which  the  various  deposits  can  be  put,  and  the  best  means 
of  working  and  manufacturing  them.  No  line  of  work  could  be  of 
more  importance  to  the  state.  Arkansas  is  unexcelled  in  the  quan- 
tity, quality  and  variety  of  its  clay  deposits.  The  climatic  con- 


32 


ditions  are  favorable  to  its  manufacture,  fuel  is  close  at  hand,  and 
the  labor  can  be  had.  In  1906  our  neighbor,  Missouri,  manufac- 
tured clay  products  to  the  amount  of  $6,700,000.00;  Illinois,  to  the 
amount  of  $12,600,000.00.  In  the  same  year,  Arkansas,  with  better 
clays,  and  far  better  natural  conditions,  produced  only  $532,000.00 
worth  of  clay  products,  all  told.  For  the  fine  buildings  erected  in 
our  state,  the  brick  is  practically  all  imported  from  Missouri  or 
Kansas.  We  are  buyers  when  we  ought  to  be  sellers.  As  well  had 
a farmer  buy  his  own  garden  vegetables.  We  should  lead  in  the 
manufacture  of  brick,  drain  tile,  and  roofing  tile,  and  should  take 
high  rank  in  the  production  of  earthenwares  of  high  grade.  We 
only  ask  the  opportunity  to  test  these  clays,  and  call  the  attention  of 
the  public  to  them,  and  the  special  purposes  to  which  each  is 
adapted. 

(b)  Much  that  has  been  said  concerning  clay  products  could 
be  said  regarding  cement  material,  in  which  this  state  probably  has 
as  large  a supply  as  any  other,  consisting  of  chalk,  limestone  and 
clays. 

(c)  In  Northern  Arkansas  are  extensive  deposits  of  zinc  ore. 
Much  of  this  is  so  finely  disseminated  through  the  rock  that  it 
cannot  be  recovered  by  the  methods  employed  in  the  Joplin  district, 
though  the  percentage  of  zinc  to  rock  is  in  many  cases  high.  The 
invention  of  means  of  saving  this  is  a problem  to  be  wrorked  upon 
by  our  professor  of  Mining  Engineering,  and  he  would  be  glad  to 
undertake  this,  and  would  think  it  a public  duty,  if  the  facilities  for 
doing  so  were  at  his  command. 

(d)  Another  promising  field  of  investigation  is  offered  by  the 
large  deposits  of  lignite  coal,  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  state.  A 
large  part  of  the  domestic  fuel  of  Germany  is  made  from  a lignite 
inferior  to  ours  in  heating  value.  But  as  yet,  almost  no  progress 
has  been  made  toward  utilizing  this  resource  of  Arkansas. 

These  are  some  of  the  reasons  why  there  is  needed  a building 
for  Geology  and  Mining.  No  line  of  work  is  more  closely  con- 
nected with  the  state’s  welfare.  If  the  General  Assembly  will  but 
give  us  this  building,  from  a business  point  of  view  it  will  repay 
the  state  many  times  over,  to  say  nothing  of  added  educational 
facilities. 

In  addition  to  the  two  buildings  above  mentioned,  we  should 
have  a Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  W.  C.  A.  building,  armory  and  gymnasium 
combined  together,  with  equipment  for  the  same.  The  University 
of  Arkansas  has  the  largest  college  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  the  state.  It 
usually  sends  more  men  to  the  Ruston  Conference  each  year  than 


33 


all  the  other  colleges  combined.  Last  year  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  had 
thirty  Sunday  afternoon  meetings,  with  an  average  attendance  of 
125 ; seventy-two  prayer  meetings ; six  evangelistic  meetings,  fifteen 
young  men  were  converted ; they  heard  fourteen  addresses  on  social 
and  personal  purity,  and  300  young  men  signed  the  purity  pledge, 
two  decided  during  the  year  for  the  ministry  and  nine  for  foreign 
mission  work;  150  young  men  were  enrolled  in  Bible  classes.  The 
University  supports  a secretary  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  paying  him 
$900.00  a year.  This  year  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  membership  is  larger 
than  ever  before.  The  young  women  have  a Y.  W.  C.  A.,  at  the 
Girl’s  Dormitory,  and  they  also  have  a secretary  at  a salary  of 
$500.00  a year.  The  University  of  Arkansas  is  supported  by  a 
Christian  state  and  a Christian  citizenship,  and  while  it  is  not  denom- 
inational, it  is  religious,  and  due  and  special  care  is  taken  that  its 
students  learn  through  precept  and  example  that  morality  and  re- 
ligion are  of  more  importance  than  any  other  instruction  that  they 
can  obtain  at  this  institution. 

APPROPRIATIONS. 

It  may  seem  to  some  that  the  budget  this  year  is  too  large, 
but  it  is  only  about  half  as  large  as  the  appropriation  asked  two 
years  ago.  Compared  to  what  other  states  are  giving  to  higher 
education,  the  request  of  two  years  ago  was  a modest  one ; this 
year  we  have  not  asked  for  all  we  need,  on  account  of  the  low  state 
of  the  treasury.  We  have  asked  for  just  as  little  as  we  think  we 
can  get  along  with..  The  University  is  not  the  small  institution  it 
was  a few  years  ago.  It  has  grown  and  expanded  with  the  years, 
and  if  it  is  to  keep  pace  with  the  institutions  in  our  sister  states,  it 
must  be  encouraged,  as  they  are  encouraged.  We  have  not  kept 
pace  with  our  sister  states  in  the  matter  of  making  appropriations 
for  higher  education,  but  I believe  we  have  done  more  for  the  people 
with  the  money  that  has  been  given  us  than  many  of  them.  The 
legislatures  of  many  of  the  states  have  recently  increased  their  ap- 
propriation. I have  gathered  some  statistics  from  the  year  1889, 
^ and  find  that  then  the  income  of  the  Ohio  State  University,  exclusive 

of  the  expenditure  for  the  maintenance  of  the  experiment  station, 
amounted  annually  to  $68,000.00.  It  is  now  $450,000.00.  The  in- 
t?  come  of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Michigan  was  $63,000.00 ; it  is 

now  $288,000.00.  The  income  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  was 
then  $190,000.00;  it  is  now  $1,100,000.00.  The  A.  & M.  College  of 
Kansas  was  $45,000.00;  it  is  now  $203,000.00.  The  income  of  the 
University  of  Missouri  was  then  $70,000.00 ; it  is  now  $556,000.00. 


34 


This  year  Missouri  asks  for  $1,614,000.00,  and  will  get  it.  Last 
year  the  Legislature  of  Kansas  gave  the  State  University  a million 
dollars,  and  did  not  cut  a single  item  in  the  bill  as  prepared  by  the 
president  of  that  institution.  We  are  asking  for  something  like  a 
half-million,  but  that  is  for  the  two  years,  and  not  for  one  year,  as 
were  most  of  the  incomes  above  mentioned. 

I beg  to  repeat  a few  things  I said  in  a former  address,  touch- 
ing upon  the  relationship  of  the  State  University  to  other  schools, 
and  bearing  upon  the  question  of  state  aid  to  higher  education. 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  University  should  spurn  the  humble 
district  school,  or  such  school  dislike  the  university.  There  is  no 
reason  why  the  university  should  seek  to  injure  the  private  academy, 
or  the  private  academy  quarrel  with  the  university.  There  is  no 
reason  why  the  university  should  be  jealous  of  the  ambitious  high 
school,  or  the  ambitious  high  school  envy  the  university.  There 
is  no  reason  why  stately  Ouachita  should  carry  a dagger  for  us,  in 
the  folds  of  her  robe,  or  we  strive  to  tear  the  white  plumes  from 
the  proud  crest  of  Ouachita.  There  is  no  reason  why  Henderson  or 
Galloway  or  Hendrix  should  wage  useless  and  wasteful  feud  with  us, 
or  we  with  them.  Arkansas  is  big  enough  for  all  her  schools. 

DENOMINATIONAL  SCHOOLS  NECESSARY. 

The  denominational  school  is  a necessity.  Its  desirability  is 
conceded.  Churchmen  have  been  the  greatest  teachers  of  the  world. 

In  the  long  night  of  the  dark  ages  the  lamp  of  learning  would  have 
ceased  to  burn  but  for  the  love  the  priesthood  had  for  letters.  For 
ages  the  priest  and  the  teacher  were  the  same  person.  He  who 
would  learn  was  compelled  to  seek  his  opportunity  in  the  cloister. 

The  world’s  debt  to  the  priest-teacher  should  be  gratefully  acknowl- 
edged. Church  schools  are  still  a necessity  and  always  will  be  so. 

Private  schools  are  also  necessary,  but  we  must  have  institutions 

that  are  public  and  non-sectarian  as  well.  Popular  education,  state- 

founded  universities,  a system  of  schools  supported  by  public  money, 

is  the  ideal  school  system  for  the  people.  It  is  the  hope  of  our  % 

government,  but  under  any  form  of  government  the  children  of  the 

people  should  be  given  an  opportunity  to  acquire  liberal  learning  at 

the  least  possible  cost.  * 

State  aid  to  higher  education  is  no  new  system.  In  the  splendid 
city  founded  by  Alexander  and  named  for  him  there  was  a college 
in  connection  with  the  great  library,  with  dining  hall,  lecture  room, 
and  all  the  necessary  equipment.  Here  the  Ptolemies  with  public 


35 


money  maintained  a university  for  the  use  of  those  who  sought  its 
benefits. 

Imperial  Rome,  under  her  great  Emperors,  established  and 
maintained  schools  of  culture  and  higher  education,-  and  expended 
large  sums  of  money  out  of  the  public  treasury  for  university  train- 
ing in  the  parent  city,  at  Lyons,  at  Antioch,  at  Constantinople,  and 
at  Athens  after  the  Roman  conquest. 

Charlemagne  was  the  greatest  man  of  the  Middle  Ages ; great 
in  war,  great  in  statesmanship,  but  greater  still  because  he  was  the 
friend  and  patron  of  the  English  scholar,  Alcuin,  and  because  he 
gave  lavishly  of  his  treasure  in  creating  and  promoting  institutions 
of  learning  in  his  extensive  empire. 

The  French  Republic  maintains  fifteen  state  universities,  at  an 
annual  expense  to  the  government  of  15,000,000  francs. 

The  Government  of  Belgium  provides  liberally  for  its  institu- 
tions of  higher  learning.  The  public  universities  of  Ghent  and 
Liege  receive  large  appropriations  from  the  state. 

In  Sweden  the  government  is  the  chief  supporter  of  higher 
education.  The  Universities  of  Lund  and  Upsala  are  both  main- 
tained by  the  state. 

The  German  Empire  has,  during  the  last  half  century,  advanced 
with  the  strides  of  a giant,  and  this  advance  is  due  in  no  small  degree 
to  the  generous  support  by  the  state  of  public  higher  education. 

Oxford  and  Cambridge  and  the  University  of  Edinburgh  have 
all  received  financial  aid  from  the  British  Government. 

In  America  the  state  university  is  the  most  popular  institution 
with  the  masses  for  higher  and  technical  training.  Especially  is  this 
true  in  the  west,  where  the  people’s  colleges,  as  they  are  correctly 
termed,  have  done  so  much  towards  the  liberal  education  of  young 
people  of  worth  and  ambition,  but  with  modest  means.  Statistics 
show  that  21  per  cent  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  attend  some 
public  school  supported  by  state  or  municipal  taxation,  and  that  2 
per  cent  attend  private  schools.  Back  in  the  colonial  period  the 
policy  of  the  statesmen  of  that  time  was  to  encourage  university 
maintainance  at  public  expense.  After  the  establishment  of  our 
present  form  of  government,  the  same  policy  was  advocated  by  our 
greatest  public  men.  Washington,  Madison,  Jefferson,  Franklin, 
? Monroe,  Edward  Everett,  Senator  Morrill  and  many  others  believed 

it  to  be  the  imperative  duty  of  the  state  to  provide  liberally  for  the 
higher  education  of  her  children. 

Washington  in  a public  utterance  regretted  that  it  was  neces- 
sary for  American  boys  to  go  to  Europe  to  receive  college  training. 


36 


Scarcely  a state  constitution  has  been  adopted  that  has  not  a section 
recognizing  the  importance  and  desirability  of  liberal  public 
education. 

Mr.  Jefferson  believed  that  the  state  university  and  the  public 
school  system  properly  correlated  is  the  necessary  and  the  ideal 
system  for  the  education  for  the  masses  of  the  people.  So  believing 
he  founded  the  University  of  Virginia  and  provided  for  its  support 
at  public  expense,  and  this  he  regarded  as  the  greatest  act  of  his 
long  career.  He  was  a sincere  friend  to  popular  education.  In 
1818  he  said:  “A  system  of  general  education  which  shall  reach 
every  description  of  our  people,  from  the  richest  to  the  poorest,  as 
it  was  the  earliest,  so  it  shall  be  the  latest  of  all  public  concerns  in 
which  I shall  permit  myself  to  take  an  interest.” 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

At  this  time  it  would  be  a bold  statesman  indeed  who  would 
question  the  utility  of  the  Common  District  School.  There  was  a 
time  when  they  enjoyed  scant  favor  or  support.  They  were  called 
“pauper  schools,”  “hedge  schools,”  and  “poor  schools,”  but  now 
they  are  known  as  public  schools  and  you  never  hear  the  wisdom  of 
the  system  challenged.  If  it  is  proper  policy  to  maintain  the  district 
school  at  public  expense,  it  is  good  policy  to  maintain  the  high 
school  and  the  state  university  at  public  expense. 

As  before  stated,  the  private  school  is  desirable  and  a necessity. 
The  church  school  is  a necessity,  and  is  bravely  meeting  its  difficult 
problems.  It  is  moving  grandly  on  towards  the  accomplishment  of 
its  high  mission,  and  as  stated  before,  the  university  desires,  to  see 
them  all  prosper.  The  church  has  always  been  zealous  to  educate, 
and  she  is  to  be  commended  for  this,  and  partly  because  of  her 
accomplished  and  educated  men  and  women  she  has  wielded  great 
power  in  temporal  affairs  to  the  glory  of  the  faith,  and  to  the  lasting 
good  of  humanity.  But  the  denominational  schools  can  not  be 
expected  to  exceed  the  limit  of  their  strength  and  resources  in  the 
matter  of  educating  the  children  of  the  state ; they  can  not  be 
expected  to  divert  their  energies  from  the  peculiar  and  paramount 
end  for  which  they  are  organized.  Therefore  the  state,  out  of  the 
abundant  store  of  her  resources,  should  carry  the  chief  burden  of 
lower  and  higher  education,  and  should  support  with  liberality  a 
university  with  all  the  varied  departments  made  necessary  by  the 
complexity  of  modern  civilization. 

The  state  university  offers  free  tuition  to  all  her  students. 
There  are  many  young  people  who  have  not  the  means  to  acquire  a 


37 


college  education  if  tuition  therefor  is  not  free.  Should  it  not  be 
the  boast  of  a proud  commonwealth  that  no  ambitious  young  man 
or  young  woman  should  fail  of  university  training  because  of 
poverty  ? 

The  best  investment  the  state  can  make  is  to  expend  $1,000.00 
and  get  in  return  a trained  engineer,  farmer  or  a technical  expert 
prepared  to  direct  the  building  of  levees,  the  opening  of  mines,  the 
beautifying  of  cities,  the  protection  and  improvement  of  farms  and 
orchards.  The  state  can  well  afford  to  expend  $1,000.00  and  receive 
in  return  an  educated  young  woman  with  a gracious  manner  and  a 
cultivated  mind  and  heart,  equipped  to  teach  the  youth  of  the  land 
and  to  bear  with  honor  and  credit  and  dignity  a woman’s  share  in 
the  complex  life  of  today. 

The  state  should  give  liberally  of  her  substance  to  public 
improvements.  She  should  tenderly  care  for  her  deaf  mutes,  her 
blind,  her  insane,  but  she  owes  no  duty  more  pressing  than  the  duty 
of  providing  ample  facilities  for  educating  her  children  at  the  least 
possible  cost.  The  state  should  say  this  to  her  child-citizen : “You 
are  my  child ; the  first  duty  of  a parent  is  to  provide  education  for 
his  offspring.”  It  is  certainly  better  for  the  state  to  furnish  cheer- 
fully and  with  liberality,  adequate  means  to  enable  her  children  to 
secure  university  training  at  home  rather  than  suffer  them  to  go  to 
other  states  at  great  expense  and  at  a great  loss  of  state  love. 
Young  people  are  fond  of  remaining  in  the  state  where  they  are 
educated,  because  there  they  form  strong  attachments  among  their 
fellow  students  and  among  the  citizens  whom  they  meet.  It  is  a 
distinct  loss  to  a state  to  give  up  an  educated  man  or  woman.  Her 
valuable  assets  are  reduced  just  that  much. 

DUTY  OF  THE  STATE. 

It  is  likewise  better  for  a state  to  sufficiently  and  cheerfully 
provide  for  the  higher  education  of  her  youth  without  waiting  for 
or  expecting  men  of  money  in  distant  commonwealths  to  step  in  and 
relieve  her  of  this  duty.  She  may  be  compelled  to  wait  forever. 
Oftentimes  the  spirit  of  gift  moves  these  millionaires  but  slowly. 

Our  state  has  emerged  from  the  shadow  of  ridicule,  slander  and 
poverty.  This  situation  has  been  attained  in  part  through  the  help 
of  her  schools.  In  common  with  her  sisters  of  the  South,  Arkansas 
is  marching  to  the  music  of  progress.  She  produces  fruits  that 
California  can  not  rival,  cotton  that  Alabama  envies,  zinc  that  Mis- 
souri can  not  equal,  has  the  finest  health  resorts  in  the  world,  and 
her  educational  institutions  are  among  the  best  in  the  South. 


38 

. v INSTITUTION  OF  DEMOCRACY. 

Recurring  briefly  to  the  main  subject  by  way  of  summing  up, 
let  me*  emphasize*  the  thought  that  the  state-supported  school  is 
essentially  .an  institution  of  democracy.  In  the  South  a few  years 
back,  the  foreign  university,  the  classical  academy,  the  expensive 
and  exclusive  private  school,  were  practically  the  only  places  where 
higher  training  could  be  had,  and  these  institutions  were  decidedly 
aristocratic  in  their  workings.  The  modern  state  university  has  re- 
versed this  unfortunate  and  unpopular  condition  of  affairs  in  educa- 
tional matters.  The  state  university  is  a place  where  young  men 
and  young  women  meet  on  a basis  of  absolute  equality.  The  system 
of  co-education  prevails  here.  The  South  and  West  believe  in 
co-education,  as  they  believe  in  the  state  university.  There  is  no 
reason  why  the  sexes  should  not  be  thrown  together  in  school  as  they 
are  everywhere  else  in  life.  The  state  university,  being  a child  of 
the  state,  owes  to  each  one  of  her  citizens  a special  duty,  and  tries  to 
discharge  that  duty  impartially.  Her  mission  is  to  develop  the  body 
and  free  the  mind,  to  teach  the  unlearned,  ennoble  the  humble  and 
uplift  the  fallen,  to  elevate  man  above  his  less  gifted  fellows  only  to 
fit  him  to  serve  them,  not  to  oppress  them. 

In  the  bright  morning  of  this  glorious  new  century  so  full  of 
promise  and  possibilities,  let  us  congratulate  ourselves  that  the  times 
have  brought  us  relief  from  old  conditions.  We  no  longer  need  to 
bend  the  knee  to  foreign  educational  influences,  no  longer  need  to 
go  beyond  our  borders  for  college  training.  We  of  the  South  and 
West  have  great  schools  of  our  own.  We  are  supplied  with  our 
own  state  universities,  where  “with  the  wing  stroke  of  a free  mind 
the  specters  of  ignorance  and  superstition  are  dispelled.”  Let  us 
congratulate  ourselves  that  learning  has  emerged  from  the  cloister 
out  into  the  sunshine.  It  has  come  out  of  gloomy  retreats  into 
lighted  halls.  It  has  ceased  to  be  aristocratic,  and  is  now  democratic. 
It  is  no  longer  affected  or  monopolized  by  the  few,  but  it  is  the 
right  and  privilege  and  property  of  the  many.  Once  it  was  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  humble,  now  it  is  within  the  grasp  of  the  poorest. 
Once  it  dwelt  in  mystery,  now  it  abides  in  the  open.  Once  it  was 
unpurchasable,  except  by  the  privileged  classes,  now  it  is  free. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


PlttlDMTt  UWcfc 


